Truth and Consequences
by Koca002
Summary: What if the truth came out about Mr Satan not being the saviour of the world? What if the world had seen him for the fraud that he was and now he and Videl have gone on the run as the world is out to get them for the injustice that has been the last 7 years. They'll find themselves with nowhere to turn, unless of course, they find a safe haven. (Rated T for suggestive themes)
1. Chapter 1: Realisation

Hi, I'm back again with my second story. I know that in my last story I got some things wrong in terms of planning out the actual story. I'm not going to lie, you'll probably find the same flaw(s) in this one. My stories tend to be dialogue heavy so I've tried to fix that a bit in this one but there will still be dialogue heavy parts. I also don't tend to plan them out on paper, I just write how I think the scenes/story should go. That being said, I always say that it's a bit of an AU type story. I don't include the Buu saga or any Saiyaman involvement. The simple reason, I like the dynamics between people, rather than writing fight scenes and letting it steer the ship so to speak.

As for this story, I've tried to imagine how Videl would act if her life were very drastically different so I hope you enjoy this story.

In regards to updates, I've always preferred to have the story fully written before uploading it, that way, you won't be left with a story that goes on an indefinite hiatus. That said, I've not finished writing this one, which is why I'm publishing it, to try and give me the kick needed to get back in to writing this and finish the story, so likely, I'll probably update once a week until I can finish the story, then I might upload it quicker.

Anyway, I'm rambled on long enough, please enjoy the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT or Dragonball Super, any of it's film adaptations or the manga.

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**Chapter 1: Realisation**

The day started off like any other, birds were singing, the sun slowly appearing over the horizon, a cool breeze sifting through the windows, yet, for Videl Satan, it was likely to be anything but a normal day for she had just stirred from her slumber and looked about the room, getting her bearings as she sat up in her bed and looked over to her dresser and the mirror atop of it, then looked over to her walk-in cupboard and then to her en-suite bathroom, at least she would have had she been sleeping in her own bed, never mind her own house.

Everything had changed for Videl and her father, Hercule, in the last 24 hours, after it got out that Mr Satan was not the champion who defeated Cell after all and, as a kicker, he was just beaten by a scrawny looking woman in the last 16 of the World Martial Arts Tournament not just a few days ago.

Neither of them knew who had provided the evidence, but there was video footage circulating around all the news and media outlets, showing Mr Satan cowering behind a rock with the first camera crew who had gotten there, whilst the delivery boy that everyone in the world had seen in the original broadcast, and his friends, had truly been the ones to take down Cell.

Now, because of all of this, Videl was waking up in a small bedroom at an inn, in the furthest most reaches of the land and why?Well, that was simple, once Mr Satan lost to the blonde-haired woman, people started questioning just how strong 'The Champ', really was, then the footage was aired and the world had decided that Mr Satan was nothing but a fraud. Videl, had lost her position on the Satan City police force, even though she had been innocent in all of this, as they thought that there was no way she didn't know about this, which meant that the city's trust in her too, was lost.

The city decided that it was going to change its name back to Orange Star City as soon as they could pass the motion in office, which would take some time but, should be fairly straight forward, given the , from every individual person, to cities, to even world governments, wanted their money back from Mr Satan that they had gave Mr Satan had received many gifts, there wasn't as much cash as they would like as most of the monetary gifts were invested in to other enterprises, such as hotels, fast food outlets, dojos, being the case, debt collectors and repossession agencies had swarmed all the hotels, dojos and fast food outlets and seizing the , to top it all off, they then descended upon the mansion, taking everything that they could.

Videl had at least had the sense to grab everything that she could, she had filled up a suitcase by throwing as many clothes, shoes and underwear that she could fit in it, not to mention, filling up every nook and cranny with things like a toothbrush and toothpaste, money, literally anything she could lay her hands father, on the other hand, was trying his best to convince them all to not take anything, but failing , she had taken a precaution and had already packed a suitcase for her father the night before, stuffing as much money and clothes as she could get in to it for him.

She had thrown everything in to her jet-copter and capsulized it, making it easier to had done the same with food, grabbing as much food as she could and placing it on to a dining room table before capsulizing it as well, she seemed to have been much more realistic than her father when she had mentioned to him that they should start packing stuff in the event that something like this might however, laughed it off and thought that his reputation was so great, that the people of the world couldn't live without him, oh how wrong he was.

So, instead of the dresser, closet and bathroom she was expecting, she could see four log walls, a door, two suitcases and a bedside table which sat between the bed she had slept in and the bed that her father was still sleeping in.

The realization of the situation had sunk in hard now, even though she had been preparing for it, it still hit her like a brick wall, harder than she had got out of bed and tip toed her way to the door and creaked it open, looking over to her father, who was still fast asleep, as she slid out of the room and closed the door made her way down the hall to the bathroom as, unfortunately, due to the size of the inn, it was a shared bathroom between occupants.

Videl went about doing her business and made her way back up to the room that they were staying crept back in, her father still asleep and made her way back to her grabbed some clothes out of a backpack she had also managed to secure on their way out of the mansion and got changed under the covers, certain her father would not she had changed, she stuffed the other clothes back in to the backpack and placed it on the floor and grabbed her shoes and again, tip toed out of the she had went out of the room, she made her way downstairs to the reception area, which nobody was manning at the time, seeing as they were the only guests staying there, there didn't seem to be a need for anyone to be manning it this early.

She looked at a table, which seemed to have a wooden box which was holding brochures, the kind you find at most hotels that show all the different touristy things you can do in the looked at them all, more or less each one was showing something that revolved around going to Satan City, or Orange Star City once they changed its was either that or East City as there wasn't anything else nearby, and East City wasn't exactly close either truth be , Videl found a brochure that showed a map of the area surrounding Mt. Paozu all the way to the coast line and all the way to Satan is what she needed as neither her, nor her father, knew anything other than city life as they didn't stop at small towns or villages often, they either lived their lives in Satan City or attended fancy soirees in one of the other big cities for the most part.

Videl put the brochure in her pocket and made her way outside, there she could feel the cool, crisp, clean air as she took in a big breath through her should have been satisfying to breathe air like this, although, uncertainty stood in her way, not knowing what the day would bring or where they would go place was really only meant as a rest stop for, anyone really, seeing as it had no amenities and they didn't have enough money to be living out of inns and motels the rest of their needed a plan, what that might be however, was anyone's guess as her father didn't really say much for the rest of the day after they fled their home in Videls' couldn't even rely on that too much either as they would need to re-fuel at some point and again, money would only go so far.

Videl looked at the map on the brochure and studied it for a while as she sat down on an old tree stump outside the at all the towns and villages in the area, she couldn't decide where to go, after all, most of these places had tv now so, it was most likely that they all knew about what had happened were only lucky that this place had no tv or news coming that way often, but it wouldn't last forever, the owner would eventually go to get supplies from a nearby town or village and would find out from someone best Videl could hope for is that someone would take pity on them and offer to put them up for some time.

Her best friend, Erasa, had offered to take her in, but Videl had declined as Erasa's parents were ok with Videl staying, but not her father and Videl loved her father very much, that she wouldn't abandon him in his hour of need, hence, Videl took her father in the jet-copter in any direction that wasn't Satan kept in contact with Erasa for as long as she could, however, her phone battery eventually ran out and, with no electrical supply at the inn to recharge it, it was no longer a useful item, though she didn't discard it as she would likely find a way to charge it later.

After studying the map some more, Videl heard the door to the inn open turned around to see the sight of her slightly dishevelled father, clearly just awake and out of bed;

"Hi sweetie, what're ya doing?" asked Hercule.

"'sigh', just looking at a map of the area, trying to figure out our next step in this whole mess" replied Videl.

"Oh, I see" said Hercule as he looked down at the ground in shame.

"Videl, I'm sorry this happened to you, I only wanted the best for you" said Hercule ashamedly.

"I know dad, I know, but we need to concentrate on what we're going to do next, we'll have plenty of time to discuss this later, ok?" said Videl.

"Ok sweetie" replied Hercule.

After a while of contemplating, Videl suggested that they head somewhere over in the direction of Mt. Paozu's base, as there were a number of villages there that she hoped hadn't heard the news , not knowing what else to do, agreed with his daughter and stepped back in to the inn with Videl behind him as they made their way back up to their room and gathered their things.

After stopping to grab some breakfast in the small dining area of the inn, they began their trek towards Mt. so often, they'd pass by someone who was on their way to their work or running errands, all friendly enough, it seemed as though maybe news hadn't reached out here quite , it became evident after a while that news had reached out there and that, maybe the first few people they came across were just really friendly, as soon after the first few passers-by, they began approaching a village, where the more people they passed, the more vulgar and annoyed people were shouting at them, booing them, calling them worthless and everything else under the sun.

Videl was brushing it off and continued to make her way through the village with her father close least, she would like to have brushed every comment off but in fact, the opposite was happening, she was hearing every one of them and couldn't help but notice the anger that seethed in each person who made a rude gesture or comment towards hurt Videl, deep, seeing just how a person could turn on another like that.

The two of them dared not stay in the village any longer than they had to and in fact, didn't even stop in a shop for fear that anything could happen, they just continued until they had managed to walk right out the other end of the would end up being a recurring theme, they'd find a village, be jeered or booed and would have to make a hasty exit and move on to the lasted for a total of five days straight and they ended up having to go away from Mt. Paozu and towards the coastline after only two days.

They had not been successful in staying anywhere over those five nights and ended up camping out each of them had bathed properly in days, their clean clothes were starting to dwindle and they weren't eating properly as they had already rationed out the food to the point that they were going to have to eat every second day just to make it 's nerves were frayed as she was now constantly looking over her shoulder, not knowing what to was a shadow of his former self, no longer trying to be a heroic leader but instead, following his daughter around as she seemed to have a better grasp of the situation than he did, but, she was still just a kid and didn't know everything, she was just winging it and planning as far ahead as she could, which, admittedly wasn't very far seeing as she had no idea where they could go.

Eventually, after another four days of travelling, they happened upon a small appeared to be quite quiet at this hour, not filling any of their hopes that there would be anything open at this two of them made their way through the town, checking each shop, only to find closed signs everywhere;

"Videl, I don't know if I can take this much more, I'm starving, dirty, stinking and tired" said Hercule to his daughter.

"I know dad, but, what other choice do we have, we have to keep moving" she wearily replied.

Just as they were about to give up, they had seen a shop which still appeared to be of their faces lit up, until they approached the shop, they both became serious for a moment and looked around to see if there was anyone watching, apparently, they had also become paranoid on top of everything , they both decided to walk in to the shop where they were greeted by an elderly man;

"Well, there's a surprise, I don't usually get many customers after 8pm, what can I do for you?" asked Mr Lao.

"Hi there, we're looking to buy food, any food really" said Videl.

"Well, we've got some fresh fruit and veg over there, some bread, cheese" said Mr Lao.

"Great" said Videl as she helped herself to some of each.

Eventually, she placed all the items on the counter which Mr Lao added up;

"Okay, that will be 500 zeni please" said Mr Lao.

Videl reached in to her pocket and started counting out their money, realising that they did not have enough, they were short, by about 200 zeni;

"I-I'm afraid I don't have enough" said Videl dishearteningly.

"Hmmm, well, if we take away the bread and cheese, you'll have enough for the fruit and veg" said Mr Lao.

A disappointed Videl eventually put the food back and paid for what they could , they were properly broke as that was the last of their money, they wouldn't even be able to afford to stay at another inn or motel;

"Excuse me" said Videl.

"Hmm, yes, what is it?" asked Mr Lao.

"Do you know if there is anywhere we could stay the night?" asked Videl.

"Well, I'm not sure there's anywhere in the village that would take you in, after all, the news does get out here too you know" said Mr Lao.

"Oh, I see" replied a defeated Videl.

"I would offer to take you in myself, Kami knows you really need it based on the way you both look, however, I live here with my granddaughter, Lime, and we just don't have the space, or beds, to put you up I'm afraid" said a saddened Mr Lao.

"It's ok, thanks anyway though" said Videl.

The two of them made their way for the exit before Mr Lao spoke up;

"There is perhaps, somewhere you could stay, however, you won't be able to get there tonight" said Mr Lao.

"And where is that?" asked Videl.

"Here, I'll show you" said Mr Lao as he ushered them both out of the door.

"You see that clearing, in the middle of all of that dense forest over there" said Mr Lao, pointing out past the town limits.

"Yeah" they both replied.

"If you make your way towards there, there is a kind-hearted family who I'm sure will be able to help you somehow" said Mr Lao.

"Thank you" said Videl, with a slightly renewed hope.

Videl and Hercule made their way towards the clearing that Mr Lao had pointed out to them, although it was rather late and they needed shelter for the kept walking, looking for anything that might provide even the most basic form of shelter, eventually happening upon what looked like a cave pulled out a flashlight she had managed to bring with her when she was packing and realised that this 'cave', was really only an inlet of a hillside, still, it went in about ten feet and was large enough for both of them to huddle in to for the night.

They tried to make a fire but with little success as it began to rain and they could not bring it inside their shelter for fear of smoking themselves had to make do with the shelter they had, which was keeping them dry but the wind was getting in and out very easily, making it a cold persevered and put on extra clothes and used others as makeshift blankets to keep them warm for the night.

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The next day, the rain had thankfully stopped and they packed up their stuff and continued their way towards the for them, the path that they were taking had been blocked as the rain on the previous night had created a few landslides, taking some of the hillside and trees with meant that they had to take a longer route, going around a small mountain in the area which was going to add days on to their journey, days, which they might not have, based on the food and supplies that they had left.

It took them another eight days to go around the blocked road, four days to travel around it, which, ordinarily would have only took two, but there were some setbacks for the pair, including a scuffle in which both Videl and Hercule had to fight their way out scuffle that they had, was a lot more difficult than it should have been for them both, due to their malnourishment and general tiredness.

After the four days of travelling, they had asked someone for directions, who pointed them the wrong way, on purpose, meaning that they lost a day's worth of travel time and had to double back as a last two days, were spent trying to avoid people, it had become clear to them that nowhere was safe for them now as just about every living thing that came near them, wanted rid of them, or long journey was taking its toll on both of them as they had both lost weight and it showed on Hercule more so, due to his bigger muscle mass, even Videl was starting to look too thin and she was relatively thin before this had all wasn't just the physical tolls that could be seen either, even the mental, emotional and psychological ones could be seen now as every sound made in the woods had Videl turning around, afraid of what might be there.

Hercule on the other hand, wasn't worried about the sounds that could be heard, he was more worried about anyone that they encountered, he no longer felt like he could beat a single person away if his life depended on it, never mind any kind of mobs that they might run in didn't really worry about that too much as she was doing everything she could to keep them from running in to more people, but whenever they stopped to rest for the night, she would look up to the stars, wishing for things to be better, and had cried to herself each night for the last 5 nights now, wondering, just how they had gotten in to this situation.

It had now been nineteen days since they had fled their home, almost three weeks and they had run out of money and food and all their clean clothes had been used had tried washing them in streams and even a river, but with nothing to clean them properly, they were basically getting their clothes soaked in cold water and waiting for them to dry, which didn't help when they wanted to press on as they couldn't go anywhere until their clothes had dried, which took some time.

They weren't too far from the clearing that Mr Lao had pointed them towards, at least, they thought they weren't far, truth be told, they weren't really sure anymore since they had to go around the path that was blocked and the map they had didn't show any of the smaller trails so, they were guessing where they were, based on previous happened upon a small house, nestled very close to the edge of the forest trail that they were about to leave and in to a was about to continue towards the house, when her father tugged on her arm and brought her to a halt;

"Hold on a minute Videl, I don't know if this is such a good idea, we've not had the best of luck with people out here" said Hercule.

"What are you talking about dad?We need to at least try" said Videl.

"Hear me out Videl, if we go up to that house and they turn us away, we'll leave with nothing, but look on the picnic table at their back door" said Hercule.

"Yeah, what about it?" asked Videl.

"Well, there's food there on the I don't like this idea anymore than you do sweetie but" said Hercule before he was cut off.

"What?Are you saying we should steal it?" exclaimed Videl.

"Unfortunately, yes, that's exactly what I'm saying" replied Hercule.

"No dad, we can't steal from these people" said Videl, ashamed her father would even suggest such a thing.

"Videl sweetie, I don't think we can rely on people's good nature anymore, where has it gotten us over the last three weeks, not very far and we need to be able to survive too" said Hercule.

"I…I don't know what to say" said Videl.

"You don't need to say anything sweetie, all you need to do is sneak on over to that table and take what you can before anyone inside notices it's missing" said Hercule.

"What?Why me?" protested Videl.

"Well, you're smaller than me for a start, that makes it easier for you to hide behind things and less conspicuous that I am" said Hercule.

"Dad" pleaded Videl.

"I know sweetie, I know, of all the people in the world, we shouldn't be stealing from anyone but, desperate times, call for desperate measures" said Hercule.

"Ok dad, I'll try, but I want you to know how much I'm against this" said Videl, with a scowl across her face.

"I know how much it means to you to be on the side of justice and right and how difficult it must be to even consider stealing from another, let alone actually doing about this, when, not if, but when we win back the trust of the people and get our wealth back, we do something nice for these people, eh?" asked Hercule.

"Really?You promise dad?" asked Videl in a softer tone.

"I promise Videl" said her father.

"Ok dad, I'll do it and I'm going to hold you to that promise" said Videl.

After the conversation, she made her way behind the trees and bushes to the side of the weren't any windows on the side that she was approaching, which made it slightly scanned around the home and had seen no movement and crept along the side of the home, looking in to a nearby window as carefully as she , she could see no movement, it appeared to be a kitchen she was looking in to. After a moment of pondering, she looked back at the appeared as if someone was preparing a family meal, there was plenty of food just laying took another look in to the window and still could see nothing, so she turned her attention to the table.

On the table, was a plethora of foods, each one gazing back at Videl as she gazed at was even drooling at the thought of eating all this food, however, she regained her composure and decided to pick a few items, not too many, from the table before checking the window couldn't see anyone, but had heard a door inside the house darted back around the side of the home and back in to the bushes and seemed like Videl had managed to get away with it.

She had returned to her father's side, viewing the home from a distance through the had managed to sneak away with some rice cakes, some sushi rolls, some rice balls and a small bowl of was all she was able to grab before she had heard the noise inside the of noises, they could both hear the man who had came back out the house, exclaim that he was certain he had more food laid out for lunch before heading back inside, declaring that he would just have to make more.

Videl and her father then moved off back down the path they had came from, just enough to be out of sight of the home, and began to eat their quarry;

"It's not much, but it'll do for now" stated Hercule.

"I'd rather not do that again" said Videl.

"Why not?Look at what it got us, we'll not be starving all day today" said Hercule.

"It…just felt so wrong dad, we're supposed to protect citizens from people like…us" said Videl, realising that she was now basically, just a common criminal.

"I know it was wrong Videl, but what other choice did we have, if we had been nice and asked them, it could have blown up in our faces" said Hercule.

"Yeah, I know and I get that dad, but we didn't give them a chance, we just took from them without even asking" replied Videl.

"I get it Videl but, I…I just can't take that chance, not when I've got to look out for both me and you" he said, now starting to show some emotion in his truth, it was more her who was looking out for him than the other way around.

"Look dad, I know we're doing things that are completely weird for us and that, sometimes, we're gonna have to do things we don't want to, so can we please try and not break the law" she said.

"Alright Videl, next time, we'll try it your way, hopefully our luck will change shortly" he replied.

With the conversation over, the two decided that it would be best to not take the path by the home, but instead, go around, using the trees for cover, until they were on the other side of the didn't believe this to be the clearing that they were directed towards as it was too small, compared to the area that Mr Lao had pointed them towards.

They continued onwards until it was dark and once again, had to seek shelter for the time, the found a rock formation which gave them partial shelter, it wouldn't keep them dry had it decided to rain that night, luckily for them, it didn' were even able to make a campfire to keep them warm, something that they had been lacking for some time now, due to the rain that had fallen over a week ago making a lot of the potential firewood in the area, unusable.

Again, that night, Videl looked up to the sky as her father slept, wondering what the next day would bring was starting to lose hope, they'd been walking for a few weeks now and their luck had really only gotten worse, with the odd bright moment here and there, maybe tomorrow will bring something new for them.

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Author's Notes:

Thank you to iMysticalDBZ, Ushindeshi, zfj and Gofla for taking the time to review the first chapter. I appreciate the kind words and hopefully, there will be less mistakes than the first chapter. I hope you'll like the second chapter and the characters as they go through a trying time.


	2. Chapter 2: Safe Haven

So this chapter is a bit more dialogue heavy than the last I believe, hard to remember, it's been a while since I wrote this, although I did just proof read this and made some alterations before posting it so, hopefully you like it. Chapters 7 and 8 may be a bit of a drag so I apologise now, we'll see what happens when we get there.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT or Dragonball Super, any of it's film adaptations or the manga.

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**Chapter 2: Safe Haven**

Three more days had passed and it seemed like their journey would never end, the torment that the pair had gone through had drained them so much that they went back on their word about not breaking the law. They had passed by a number of homes and small villages on their way to this clearing and, when they could, would pinch small items, normally it would be food that they would take over anything else. The two of them felt incredibly guilty at what they were doing, but they needed to in order to survive since they had tried it Videl's way after their discussion previously and it turned out to that they almost had both their skulls bashed in by a baseball bat wielding nutcase.

They had managed to make it through the forest in to another clearing, this time, based on the size of the clearing, they believed that they were in the right place, however, they still had a bit to walk as the home appeared to be somewhere on the edge of the forest at the other side. They didn't get very far though, as they had come upon a group of people who were just loitering about, clearly with nothing better to do than to cause trouble for the two;

"Hey, take a look guys, it's Mr Liar and his daughter" said one of the young men.

The group turned around to see them, whilst Videl and Hercule, stopped in their tracks, apprehensive of the group in front of them. There were seven young men in total, all of whom either straightened up or began walking slowly in the direction of the pair.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here boys, fresh meat" said another.

"Yeah and look at the girl, she looks pretty feisty, I wouldn't mind taking her for a spin, if ya know what I mean" said the young man who noticed them approaching.

Now Videl was worried for a different reason, surely, they didn't just suggest some sort of lude act now did they? Hercule was enraged with the comment;

"Hey, how dare you talk about my daughter like that you scumbag" yelled Hercule.

"Oh? And what are you going to do about it? From what we hear, you're not all that tough like you claimed to be, old man!" said the second young man.

They were right, whilst Hercule was still a strong man, due to his tiredness and lack of food, etc, he wasn't as strong as he was, he probably could fight them all off if he really tried but, he was no longer sure of himself after everything they had been through.

The group began to crowd around the pair and one of them grabbed Videl by the arm;

"Hey, let go of me!" cried Videl.

"Hey, get your hands off of her now!" yelled an angered Hercule, however he wasn't able to do much about it as four of the young men had grabbed at Hercule to make sure he didn't interfere.

Videl tried to get free as well but she struggled as one of the other men had grabbed her and now, she had two men holding her, one at each side.

"First, I think we'll beat the crap outta yer dad, for lying to the world about Cell, then, we'll all take our turns and have our fun with you" said the only guy who wasn't holding on to anyone.

Videl's heart sank and began to beat faster, she could feel it in her chest, bouncing around, true panic had set in at the very notion of what they were suggesting. For the first time in Videl's life, she was the one in danger and needed someone else's help, she cried out for help;

"No, please, don't, HELP! SOMEONE PLEASE, HELP!" cried Videl, tears now gathering in her eyes and rolling down her cheeks as she tried harder to break free.

"It's no use, you're out in the middle of nowhere, nobodies going to come running to your rescue" said the young man.

Just then, something hit him in the back of the head;

"Ow, what the hell was that for" he said, turning to the group who were holding Hercule, assuming it to be one of them.

"It…it wasn't us" replied one of them.

"HEY! GET AWAY FROM THEM NOW!" came a voice from behind the whole group.

"What the!" said one of them holding Hercule, as they all turned to see where the voice had come from.

"How dare you harm them, get away from them this instant" shouted a woman, who had her young son in tow.

"Get lost and mind your own business lady, before we decide to turn our attention to you" replied one of them.

She turned to her son;

"Go teach them a lesson" she said to her son.

The young boy flew towards them in a blur and immediately took down the one who was free from holding either Videl or Hercule. He threw a punch straight in to the young man's torso and he was flung back a good twenty feet. The rest of the group turned in amazement at what they had just seen before one of the two holding Videl piped up;

"Hey, what's the big idea, c'mon Puck, let's get 'im" said one of the men holding Videl.

"Right with ya, Petey" replied Puck.

The two men charged at the young boy and attempted to tackle him, but when they dove at him, they both hit the ground, with the young boy gone. In fact, the young boy was so quick, he was now behind the two men;

"What? How did he get there?" said Petey.

Puck didn't have time to answer as the young boy launched a fierce blow straight to Puck's face and a kick to Petey's stomach area, sending both men crashing to the ground and knocked out.

The other four had seen this and decided that they didn't need to be holding Hercule but in fact, they needed to concentrate on this kid. They all let Hercule go and made their way, cautiously, towards the young boy. Videl meanwhile, ran around them and back in to her father's arms as they huddled together for their own protection.

"Alright, you asked for it kid" said one of the remaining men.

Each of the men took it in turn to try and attack the young child, but every one of them met with failure. They all were either punched or kicked and sent in all directions, one of them just straight up fell on their back after a square punch to the jaw, another was sent careening in to a tree. One was sent a good fifty feet further up the path and the last somehow managed to end up lodged in a tree's branches.

Videl and Hercule were in shock, both at the troubling ordeal that they just faced, but also at the incredible skills and strength that this kid just displayed, it seemed a lot better than anything that they could both do. The young boy walked back towards them, as his mother approached them from the other side;

"Are you two alright" said the woman.

"Y-y-y…eah, I think so, I'm…just a little shaken, is all" replied Videl.

"T-Thank you" said Hercule.

The woman then looked at Hercule and Videl and for the first time during the whole encounter, recognising who it was that her son had just saved;

"Oh, it's you" said the woman with a stern look on her face.

Videl and Hercule could only reply with a scared look on their faces.

"I'm sorry" piped up Videl. The woman was taken aback by the words she used.

"Whatever for dear?" asked the woman.

"I…I dunno, just, everywhere we go, people are shouting at us, telling us to get lost and…chasing us and…" said Videl, but she couldn't say anymore as her throat closed, choking on the words that she was trying to say.

The woman watched as the girl sobbed, thinking just how awful the two of them must have had it since the announcement about Mr Satan and the Cell games, as well as the World Martial Arts Tournament.

"Judging by the look of you both, I'd say neither of you have been eating much, have you?" the woman asked.

Both Videl and Hercule shook their heads at the woman as they were sat on the ground, huddled together.

"Please, come with us and we'll get you something to eat" she said.

"R-Really? You mean it?" asked Hercule.

"Of course, what kind of a mother would I be if didn't teach my son kindness to others" she said, looking at her son as the young boy joined her at her side.

"T-Thank you" said Videl, finding her voice again.

"You're welcome, I'm just sorry that the rest of the world can't find forgiveness in their hearts for you" she replied.

The four of them then started towards the other side of the clearing. The walk took approximately ten minutes for them to arrive at the home, where the woman invited Videl and Hercule in and ushered them towards the kitchen table.

"So, how did you manage to end up all the way out here" asked the woman.

"Well, obviously you know who we are and what our story is" said Videl, albeit a bit meekly.

"We were having everything taken from us, we had to get out before everything was took, so we grabbed what we could and flew off in my jet-copter in any direction, just to get away from it all" she continued.

Videl went on to explain their travels over the last few weeks and what ordeals that they had gone through to get there.

"And then…that horrible incident back there…." said Videl, trying not to get too emotional over the thought of what those guys would have done.

"Well, don't you worry now, you'll be safe with us" said the woman.

"Thank you, how ever can we repay you? I don't suppose my autograph holds weight anymore, does it?" asked Mr Satan.

"No, it doesn't, and even if it did, we wouldn't really have wanted it anyway, no offence" said the woman.

"Also, we wouldn't want anything from you, we're dedicated to helping other people in this household if you go by the actions of my husband and my other son" she continued.

"Oh, you have another son, and a husband?" asked Videl.

"Yes, actually, my son is about your age" she said.

"Mom, mom! He's home, big brother is home" shouted the excitable young boy.

"Oh, apparently he's here now, you'll get to meet him in just a moment" said the woman.

"Oh, that would be wonderful. Actually, while I remember, we didn't ask you for your name" said Videl.

"Oh my, where are my manners. My name is Son Chichi, but please, call me Chichi" she said.

"And that young child who's going crazy for his brother to come in is my son, Goten" she continued.

"Pleased to meet you Chichi" said Videl.

"Likewise" said Hercule.

"Although, I feel as if I've heard those names somewhere before" said a puzzled Videl.

"Mom, I'm home" came a new voice as it entered the household.

"I'm in the kitchen sweetie, and we have some guests" replied Chichi.

Videl recognised that voice, she hadn't heard it in a number of weeks. It was a voice that she was acquainted with, yet was not overly familiar with, it sounded like;

"Gohan?" said Videl, upon hearing the young Saiyan's voice.

Gohan rounded the corner in to the kitchen;

"Hey mom, I'm back from scho…" said Gohan, as his words drifted off when he realised who was in his kitchen.

Videl spun around in her chair and looked up to see Gohan standing in the doorway;

"Gohan?" came the quizzical voice again.

"Videl? What are you doing here?" asked Gohan, confused as to why Videl and Mr Satan were in his kitchen.

Videl said nothing else but instead, she got up out of her chair and walked over to Gohan and wrapped her arms around his torso and gave him a very heartfelt and warm hug;

"It's so good to see a friendly face again" said the young woman, starting to tear up.

"Yeah, it's…nice to see you too…Videl" said a still confused Gohan.

"You know him?" asked Hercule.

"Yeah…*sniff*…we go to school together" Videl answered.

"Oh, well that makes sense" said Chichi.

"So, what exactly are you doing here?" asked Gohan.

"You might want to sit down for that story sweetie, it'll take a while to explain. In the meantime, you can both stay for dinner" said Chichi.

"R-Really?" asked Hercule.

"Of course, like I said earlier, I've got to teach my son kindness" said Chichi, referring to Goten as she knew Gohan's heart was filled purely with kindness, like his father's.

"T-Thank you, you're awfully generous" replied Hercule.

"Don't mention it, now, the next question is: How do you two intend to get back on your feet?" asked Chichi as Videl took her seat and Gohan and Goten joined them at the table.

"To tell you the truth, I don't really know the answer to that" admitted Hercule.

"It probably doesn't help that everyone in the world knows who you are either" replied Chichi.

"No, it doesn't" said a dejected Videl.

"Hey, don't be sad, you've made it here, that's a step in the right direction isn't it?" asked Gohan.

Videl looked up at Gohan and stared for a moment, before a smile crept up on her face;

"Yeah, it is" she replied.

Gohan then turned to Chichi;

"Hey mom, can I talk to you for a moment, in private?" asked Gohan.

"Sure, just a moment dear. Goten, you go outside and play, ok" said ChiChi.

"Ok mom. Big brother, will you come play with me?" asked Goten.

"Sure, I'll be out shortly squirt" replied Gohan as he roughed up his brothers' hair.

Goten then made his way outside whilst Chichi motioned for Videl and Hercule to follow her through to the front room;

"Here, make yourselves comfortable just now while I make dinner and go talk to Gohan" said Chichi.

As Chichi made her way back to the kitchen, Videl sat on the sofa and Hercule sat in a chair. They both looked at each other for a moment before smiling at each other, realising just how fortunate that they were to be in a place that they weren't being jeered at or being approached by any untoward persons.

Chichi had returned to the kitchen and opened the door to the refrigerator and pulled out a jug of orange juice and began to pour it in to some glasses;

"So Gohan, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" asked Chichi

"Well mom, I think it's great that you've given them somewhere to go but, what about after you've fed them? Will they be staying the night?" asked Gohan.

"Oh gosh, I didn't think about that, I only wanted to get them out of the trouble they were in earlier and then to feed them as they look starved" replied Chichi.

"Oh yeah, we kinda got side-tracked didn't we, I'll go ask Videl for the whole story in a minute, but, what about them? Where are they going to go?" asked Gohan.

"I don't know Gohan, but I get the feeling that they'll probably end up staying here for a while" said Chichi.

"Really mom?" said Gohan.

"Well, I mean, it's not like they can really go anywhere else, besides, we are kinda responsible for the situation they're in now, right?" said Chichi.

"Oh, I never thought of it like that mom" replied Gohan.

They of course, both knew what Chichi meant by that, if Hercule had never taken the credit for defeating Cell, then the truth would never have come out the way it did and Videl and Mr Satan wouldn't be sitting in their front room. Although, Gohan did think, if Mr Satan hadn't taken the credit, then Videl could possibly have lived a different life altogether.

"Here Gohan, take these through to them as well" said Chichi, handing her son two glasses of orange juice.

"Sure thing, mom" said Gohan.

Gohan took the two glasses from her and made his way in to the front room, where he found Videl and Mr Satan, both napping.

'Wow, they must have been exhausted, I guess I'll just leave the glasses with them' he thought to himself.

He placed one glass on a table next to Mr Satan and then placed the other on a table next to the sofa where Videl was sleeping.

He looked at Videl and noticed how peaceful she was, Gohan didn't really know much about Videl, sure he had been going to the same school as her for a few months now, and was even in the same class but, they never really interacted, he would always be talking to her friend, Erasa, or rather, it would be the other way around, she would be talking to him. This was really the only time that he and Videl chatted and it didn't really happen that often. Gohan had always seemed to get the impression that Videl either wasn't interested in gaining a new friend, just didn't care or didn't trust him, so it was surprising when she just got up and hugged him tightly.

He made his way back to the kitchen;

"Well, it looks like they're all tuckered out, they're both sleeping" said Gohan to his mother.

"Poor things, I can't imagine what they've had to go through these last few weeks" said Chichi.

"So, what's the plan for after dinner then mom?" asked Gohan.

"Ok, here's what we'll do, they can stay tonight and we'll discuss with them in the morning about what they plan on doing going forward, then we can see what we can possibly help them out with" said Chichi.

"Great idea mom" replied Gohan.

"So, this is the sleeping arrangement for tonight, Goten will sleep in my room, you'll sleep in your room, Videl will sleep in Goten's room and I'm afraid poor Mr Satan will have to sleep on the sofa. It's not perfect but that way, everyone get's somewhere to sleep" said Chichi.

"Right" he said.

Videl and Hercule both slept for about an hour before Videl first woke up. She looked around her surroundings and was confused at first, before she remembered what had happened earlier in the day and that, by some happenstance, she was now inside Gohan's home.

She looked around the room, seeing a tv, some tables with glasses filled with orange juice, a bookcase, a window, curtains for said window, the sofa she was sitting on, a lamp and a chair, which her father was still napping in. She took a drink of the orange juice first, then she decided to go a wander to the kitchen to see if she could find anyone. She stepped in to the kitchen doorway to see Chichi cooking up a storm;

"Oh, Videl, you're awake" said Chichi.

"Yeah, sorry we dozed off, we must have been exhausted" said Videl.

"It's no problem at all, you've been through a lot" replied Chichi. Videl nodded in agreement.

"Where's Gohan gone?" asked Videl.

"He took Goten outside to play with him, we didn't want to disturb you" replied Chichi.

"Oh, thanks" said Videl smiling.

"Now, could you go wake your father Videl and I'll get the boys, dinner is just about ready" said Chichi.

"Ok" replied Videl.

Videl woke her father like she was asked and Chichi called outside for the boys to come in. After the boys had arrived back at the Son home, they all sat down at the kitchen table and began to dig in to the dinner that Chichi had made for them all;

"Wow Chichi, this is absolutely amazing" said Videl.

"Yeah, I have to agree, this is the best food I think I've ever had, and that's not the hunger talking" agreed Hercule.

"Why thank you" said Chichi.

"Now," continued Chichi, "we've decided that for tonight, you'll both spend the night here and then tomorrow, we can talk about what you'll be doing in the future".

"You mean it, oh, thank you, thank you, thank you" said Hercule.

"Thank you Chichi" said Videl, tearing up at the generosity the family was showing her and her father.

"Well, we couldn't just feed you and then very well throw you out. So, the sleeping arrangement will be this: Goten will sleep in my room with me, Videl, you'll get Goten's room and I'm afraid Mr Satan that you'll have the couch" said Chichi.

"That's great, I don't mind the couch, it would just be nice to have a roof over my head for a night" said Hercule.

"Actually mom, we've a spare fold away bed in the closet, we could set that up and he could have a proper bed" said Gohan.

"Oh, I had forgotten about that. Well, it looks like you'll get a proper bed after all" said Chichi.

"You're too kind" replied Hercule.

"Oh, that reminds me, you both have suitcases there, I assume you have dirty laundry in there?" asked Chichi.

"Yeah?" said both of them quizzically.

"Well, if you leave them both with me, I'll give them all a wash so that you have something clean to wear" said Chichi.

"You…you mean it?" asked Videl.

"Sure" said Chichi with a smile on her face.

"We can't thank you enough" said Videl.

"Don't mention it, now, eat up, you'll need to regain your strength, both of you" said Chichi.

The group finished their dinners, Chichi began washing both Videl and Hercule's clothes, Hercule went to the front room where he would be sleeping but sat and watched tv with Goten. Gohan took Videl upstairs to show her the room she would be sleeping in that night.

"Here, this is Goten's room" said Gohan, as he opened up the door and switched on the light.

"It's very…kid friendly" said Videl, stepping in to the room.

"Well, what do you expect, it's a kid's room" said Gohan with a grin on his face.

"Yeah, yeah, I know that" said Videl.

"Hey, Gohan" she said.

"Hmm, yeah, what's up?" he asked.

"I've…a favour to ask you" she said.

"Sure, what is it?" he asked.

"Do you think it would be alright if I used your phone, you know, to call Erasa. I haven't spoken to her in weeks, not since my cell died" she said.

Gohan began to smile;

"Of course, Erasa has missed you a lot these last few weeks, in fact, you're all she ever talks about" he said.

"Really?" asked Videl.

"Yeah, well, except for when she spots a guy and then kinda zones out for a bit" he replied.

"Haha, yeah, that sounds like Erasa alright" she said.

"Gohan, you have a wonderful family here, your generosity is…is…too much" she said emotionally, as tears began to fill her eyes.

"Hey, don't cry" he said, as he wiped away a tear from Videls' cheek, "of course we would have helped" said Gohan.

Videl couldn't help herself and hugged the young Saiyan once again;

"Gohan, I'm sorry if I've kept my distance from you since you started school this year. I don't mean to come off as cold or unfriendly, it's just…" she said.

"Just, what?" he asked.

"Well, I used to have this weird feeling that you were hiding something and were purposely trying to keep it from the world, but, all I see is the generosity you and your family have, plus, this cosy home, way out in the middle of…where are we exactly?" she asked.

"Eh, the 439-mountain area" he replied tentatively.

"What! We made it that far, but how? That's ages away from the city!" exclaimed Videl.

"You must have been making good time I guess" he said.

"I guess" said Videl, still puzzled.

"Anyway, I'm gonna turn in for the night" said Gohan, as he turned and left the room.

"Oh, and if you need anything, my room is just down the hall and on the right, although be warned, I am a heavy sleeper" he said, grinning and rubbing the back of his head..

Videl followed him out of the room and watched him walk down the hallway and open a door on the right and as he did this, he looked back up the hall to where Videl was standing. He waved to the girl as he entered the room and closed the door behind him.

Videl stood there for a moment before deciding that, maybe she too, should turn in for the night, so she turned back in to the room and closed the door. She was only in the room for a moment when she could hear Goten and Chichi coming up the stairs and heading to Chichi's room.

She assumed her father must have been ready to get some shut eye as well. Videl removed her shoes and placed them next to the door and then removed her socks and stuffed each sock in to the corresponding shoe.

It was a bit warm in Goten's room, even with the window open, so Videl decided to remove her t-shirt and shorts and hung them both off a corner of the bed. She thought for a moment about how this would be the first time in weeks that she was going to be sleeping comfortably, inside away from all the elements and didn't have to worry about whether it was too cold or whether it was going to rain. Add to that, she wouldn't have to worry about gathering firewood and starting a fire, which was always a task in itself, even if she had gotten used to doing it.

She got on to the bed and pulled the sheets over her and lay there for a moment, looking up at the ceiling, thankful that she and her father had made it to some sort of safe haven, even if it only lasted for a night, they were both safe and well fed. Their clothes were getting cleaned and they were both able to sleep in a bed for a change, maybe things were starting to look up.

It didn't take long for Videl to drift off, as the number of nights spent grabbing barely enough sleep to function, never mind the sleepless nights, had caught up to her and soon, she was fast asleep, laying there without a care in the world, waiting for the next morning to start.


	3. Chapter 3: Reunion

Apologies for the delay, life has been a bit hectic and I've not had time to get back to this. All the chapters up to eight have been written but I still need to proof read them and look at any last minute changes before posting up the next chapter, so I hope you can all bear with me. I don't like leaving time between chapters being posted up, I much prefer to have the story fully written.

Also, I'm just going to address something here.

It seems that a number of the reviews have been commenting on the grammar that this has been written in. I can't really help it to be honest, I'm writing the story the way I would read it out loud, also, it may be a UK English vs American English (or any other English) problem and that's maybe why people are struggling. I've read a number of other stories where I find the grammar to be poor and, in some cases, non existent.

So I can only apologise but the grammar isn't going to change, I can't change my entire writing style for just this story. If you don't want to read on, that's fine, I won't hold it against you. If you can see past it and continue, then awesome.

Anyway, on with the show.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT or Dragonball Super, any of it's film adaptations or the manga.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Gohan woke up that morning, the same as he always does, with his bed sheets entwined in his legs, pillow laying to one side and he, all sprawled out across his bed. He sat up and looked around his surroundings, trying to recompose himself for a moment before getting up and heading for the bathroom. He looked at the clock which read seven thirty am, which normally would have been a bad thing, however, school was now out for summer. This meant that Gohan would be able to lay in more often for the next month or so, but he was sure his mother would find something for him to do during these weeks off school.

He got up from the bed and got changed in to some casual clothes, a t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants, and made his way out of his room and in to the bathroom.

* * *

Videl awoke that morning, feeling quite comfy, realising that she was in a bed and unaware of her surroundings at first, she shot up in bed and looked around the room. She remembered that her and her father were kindly taken in by Gohan's family yesterday and that she was in his brother, Goten's room. Videl looked down and realised that the bed cover was only around her waist, she gasped and pulled it up to her neck level, remembering that she had de-clothed the night before. After looking around again and remembering that she had the room to herself, she breathed a sigh of relief and retrieved her shorts and t-shirt from the bed corner.

She got dressed and got up out of the bed and exited the room. She looked around, trying to figure out which room was the bathroom and had spotted Gohan's door was sitting ajar, so she made her way down the hall and peered in;

"Gohan?" she asked cautiously, trying to determine if the young man was awake or not.

However, when Videl pushed the door open slightly and peered in, she noticed that the bed was empty and realised that Gohan must already be awake. It then dawned on her that she could hear the sound of running water from a room across the hall way, it sounded like Gohan was in the shower. This was fine for her as she now knew where the bathroom was and would go when it was free. She made her way downstairs to see if anyone else was already awake.

She peered in to the front room as she had gotten to the bottom of the stairs. Her father, Mr Satan, was still sound asleep on the fold out bed, clearly sleep had caught up with him as well. She made her way to the kitchen, where she found Chichi sitting at the table, reading a newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee;

"Oh, good morning Videl" said Chichi as she noticed the young woman enter the kitchen.

"Good morning Chichi" she replied.

"How was your night's sleep?" asked Chichi.

"Wonderful, I can't remember the last time I slept so well, or so peacefully" she replied.

"That's good, it seems your father is still enjoying his sleep" said Chichi.

"Hehe, yeah" said Videl with a smirk on her face.

"So, Chichi, I was wondering about something" Videl started.

"Do you, have any suggestions for, you know, how me and my dad go about…starting a new life?" asked Videl.

"Oh, well, to be honest, no, I don't really. At least, not right now" answered Chichi honestly.

"Oh, I see, that's ok. I'm sure we'll come up with something" replied Videl, who was not sure herself about what to do.

"It's alright dear, we'll think of something" said Chichi, as she arose from her chair and walked around the table, placing a reassuring hand on Videl's shoulder.

"Thanks" said Videl, looking up to Chichi

Chichi then began to make breakfast and poured Videl a glass of juice and sat it on the table for her. Gohan had finished using the bathroom and had made his way downstairs to the kitchen to find Videl and his mother already there;

"Morning everyone" he said.

"Good morning sweetie" said Chichi.

"Morning Gohan" said Videl.

"So, how did you sleep last night?" asked Gohan.

"It was, the best I've had in a long time" she said.

"That's great to hear, so what are you gonna do today then?" he asked.

"I don't know, to tell you the truth. I mean, we never really had a plan to begin with, it all happened so fast that, we didn't have time to think about where were going, or where we wanted to end up" she replied.

"Oh, I see, that must have been terrible, enduring all of that" he said regrettably.

"Yeah, it was, but at least we've got a bit of a reprieve here. And thank you again, both of you, for taking us in" she said.

"Oh, you can stop with the thanks now Videl" smiled Chichi. Videl nodded back at the woman.

"Well, the first thing I suppose you'll need is to get a permanent roof over your head" said Gohan.

"Yeah, well, that's not gonna be easy, we don't have any money left and any money we did have was spent over the last few weeks just trying to survive. And we can't rely on my dad's reputation now, or mine, for that matter" said Videl.

"So…a job first then?" said a puzzled Gohan.

"Yeah, I guess, but who's going to give us a job, my father is a fraud and I chose to side with him. I couldn't let him go out on his own, he's my dad" she said with a hurt look on her face.

"I'm sure there would be people willing to give you a job, Videl, after all, you're only his daughter, it's not like you lied about it, you only found out yourself when it was all over the news" he explained.

"I know Gohan, but some people can't see past that, and that's what makes it difficult" she said.

"Well then, we'll just have to change their perspective" he said.

"And how do we do that?" she asked.

"Hehe, well, I haven't quite figured that out yet" he said.

"Well, that idea lasted long" said Videl, as she folder her arms on the table and rested her chin on her arms.

"Hey, come on, cheer up, we'll think of something, I know it" said an enthusiastic Gohan.

"You think so?" asked Videl, looking over to him.

"I know so" he said.

A smile crept across Videl's face, for some reason, she believed him when he said that they'd think of something. He seemed so confident, as if what he said would come true, if only Videl could believe it, however, her recent experiences didn't fill her with as much confidence as the young Saiyan was projecting. She excused herself and went to use the bathroom now that it was free. After she left the room, Gohan turned to his mother and asked a question;

"Hey mom" said Gohan in a lowered voice.

"Hmm, what is it Gohan?" asked Chichi.

"Do you think we should tell them about the Cell games, you know, how it really went, after all, like you said, we are kinda, partially, responsible for the situation they're in" he said.

"Well, I suppose you're right Gohan, in a way, we are responsible. Do you think they can handle it? After all, they might shift the blame on to us and that could lead to some tension" she explained.

"Yeah, you're right about that. I think we should tell them, maybe just, not right now" he said.

"Ok, but if you can, try to give me fair warning when you're about to do it, ok son" she said.

"Will do mom" he said.

* * *

Chichi had made breakfast for everyone and had placed it on the kitchen table. Hercule had finally woken up and had joined them whilst Chichi went to wake Goten in order to get him to the table for breakfast, although, once she mentioned food, Goten was wide awake.

The five of them sat in silence as they each ate their food, Goten shovelling it in his mouth, like a true Saiyan. Gohan was trying to act polite in front of Videl and Mr Satan, however, he too was going slightly faster than a normal person would eat food. Videl and Hercule, however, wouldn't have noticed, as they were too busy enjoying their food to really care or notice the others eating habits.

After they had finished, Chichi and Gohan washed up, whilst Goten accompanied Videl and Hercule through to the front room and watched some tv. It was mostly cartoons that were on, but the odd time and again, there would still be a news report about Hercule and Videl. Mostly, these were just to say that they hadn't been seen since the day they had fled but there had been reports of their sightings in some towns and villages.

Anything else, was just things like the city trying to get its name changed, which was taking longer, due to political red tape. The two of them looked at each other with puzzling looks, as if to say 'how did we get in to this, and how do we get out'.

Gohan came in to the room and cleared his throat;

"So Videl, I was talking to my mom and had an idea" he said.

"Oh, what's that?" asked Videl.

"Well, this isn't going to solve any of your immediate problems, but I thought you might want to see other friendly faces, so I asked my mom if it would be alright if I invited Erasa and Sharpner over, but not tell them that you're here" he explained.

"Really? Gosh, Gohan, that's a…really thoughtful idea" said Videl, her face full of joy at the prospect of seeing her friends again for the first time in over a month.

"It's nothing, I just know I'd want to see a friend in times of uncertainty. I'll go give them a call and see if they'll come over" he said.

Hercule had seen the joy in his daughter's face at the prospect of her seeing her friends. He felt guilty for having dragged his daughter in to all of this, even though she chose to go with him, he should have been forceful and told her to stay at her friends. After all, the incident yesterday could have turned out worse than it did, had it not been for these friendly people coming along when they did.

Hercule excused himself to go to the bathroom, but in actuality, he had followed Gohan in to the hallway, where he had just finished the phone call to Erasa;

"Hey, Gohan" said Hercule.

"Oh, Mr Satan, can I, help you with something?" asked Gohan.

"I…I just wanted to say, I appreciate what you're doing for my daughter, I haven't seen her smile so much in a long, long time" said Hercule, humbly.

"Oh, it's nothing Mr Satan, I just thought, it would be a nice thing to do" replied Gohan.

"Don't be so modest, if it brings happiness to my Videl, then it brings happiness to me. Please, keep her company, do what you have to, to make sure she stays happy, please?" pleaded Hercule.

"Ok Mr Satan, I'll try" replied Gohan.

"Thank you. Oh, and please, just call me Hercule" he replied.

"O…ok…Hercule" said Gohan.

Hercule then went to the bathroom as Gohan returned to the front room;

"Good news Videl, Erasa and Sharpner are both coming over" he announced.

"Really? Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, Gohan" she screamed as she ran over to him and hurled herself at him, hugging him tightly.

"Videl, calm down would you" said Gohan.

"How can I calm down, I'm just so excited and it's all thanks to you" she said excitedly, not relinquishing the grip she had on him.

Eventually, Gohan embraced her hug and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her. After a minute of Videl not letting go, she finally released her grasp on him and looked up at him, tears of happiness had been flowing from her eyes. Gohan had seen this and had picked up some tissues from the table and gave them to her. She wiped away her tears and smiled at Gohan.

Chichi then entered the room as she had just had another idea which might benefit everyone;

"I've just thought of something Videl, since both you and your father need a permanent roof over your heads, why don't you build a house out here in the forest, goodness knows there's plenty of trees out here, and the boys can help you and your father build it" she explained.

"Hmm, that's not a bad idea, at least we'd have somewhere to stay" replied Videl.

"What's that?" said Hercule as he came back in to the room.

"Oh, Chichi was saying that we could build a home out here in the forest using it's trees, that would give us a place of our own to stay" repeated Videl.

"Hmm, that's actually quite a good idea, sure it would be a lot different than the old house, but at least it would be ours" said Hercule, as he moved over to Videl and put one of his huge arms around her shoulder and hugged her.

"Well, if you want, we could get started once Erasa and Sharpner arrive and Sharpner could help us out too" said Gohan.

"Yeah, sure, at least it would feel like we're doing something, rather than sitting about and sulking all day" said Videl.

"Great, we'll wait on them coming over then" said Chichi.

* * *

A little over an hour had passed and Gohan, Hercule, Videl and Goten were out looking around to try and figure out the best plot of land to start building the new home.

"To be honest, right next to your home doesn't seem like a bad spot" said Videl.

"Really? I'd have thought you would want somewhere a little further away, you know, your own space" said Gohan.

"Well, yeah, but, not so far away that we can't see another house" said Videl.

"Hmm, ok, let's look around then" replied Gohan.

"I'll be honest, I haven't a clue how to judge what is and what isn't a good area to build a home on" admitted Hercule.

They had searched for about thirty minutes, but every time a suitable location was found, somebody said no to it, for various different reasons, except for Videl, in fact, she said no to every location that wasn't in direct line of sight to Gohan's home.

"So, we're right back to where we started, next to our home" said Gohan.

As he had finished his sentence, a noise could be heard in the distance. The group looked around to see what it was, eventually Goten piped up;

"Hey, look, someone's flying towards us" he said.

Videl audibly gasped, "That's Erasa, they're here" she squealed.

Another minute or so passed by and the jet-copter touched down nearby to them. Both Erasa and Sharpner jumped out as Videl ran towards them. Erasa did the same and ran towards Videl once she realised that Videl was even there, with both girls meeting each other half way before they hugged each other and jumped up and down in joy. Sharpner had capsulized the jet-copter and walked up to them. Videl then hugged Sharpner as well, followed by a punch to his arm, before saying hello to both of them properly;

"Hey, I'm so glad you both made it here" said Videl.

"Never mind us, what about you? How did you end up here? Are you ok? Are you hurt? Tell us Videl, what's happened since we last seen each other?" said Erasa, going a million miles a minute.

"Calm down Erasa, I'm happy to see you too" she replied, before they both hugged again, their happiness bursting out.

"Hey Erasa, Sharpner" said Gohan as he joined the three friends.

"Gohan! How could you keep this from us?" snapped Erasa.

"It was a surprise" replied Gohan.

"Next time, Gohan, you tell us if Videl is safe or not, I was very worried" whimpered Erasa.

"Aww, I'm sorry Erasa, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings" he replied.

"It's ok Gohan, I know you only had good intentions" she replied, a smile now forming on her face.

"Hey, Sharpner, me and Hercule are going to start on building them a home here, care to help out?" asked Gohan.

"Sure, it's great seeing you again Videl" said Sharpner as he and Gohan made their way back to Hercule, who was standing near to the house.

"So, Videl, tell me everything that's happened, firstly, how long have you been here?" asked Erasa.

"Well, I was gonna call you last night, but I was so tired, when my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light" replied Videl.

"Me and dad only got here yesterday and we stayed the night" she went on to explain.

"Oh, staying over at a boy's house, and with his mother and your father in the house at the same time, that's terrible Videl" Erasa said, trying to imply a naughty scenario.

"Really Erasa? Really? After all this time and that's the first thing you say, you haven't changed a bit" said Videl as she smiled at her best friend.

"Hehe, and neither have you Videl, I'm glad to see you still have your personality" replied Erasa.

"But really, tell me what's happened to you, you seem to, without trying to sound catty or anything but, you seem like you've lost a fair bit of weight" pointed out Erasa.

"Yeah, we haven't been eating very well, but I'm fine now, c'mon, let's go over to the house and I'll tell you all about it, you can even meet Gohan's mom, she's a lovely person" said Videl.

"Sure" replied Erasa.

* * *

Videl walked Erasa in to the house and took her through to the kitchen where Chichi was washing dishes;

"Hey Chichi, this is my friend, Erasa. Erasa, this is Gohan's mom, Chichi" said Videl.

"A pleasure to meet you ma'am" said Erasa.

"It's nice to meet you too, but please, call me Chichi" she replied.

"Here, sit down and let me tell you everything that happened" said Videl.

"Sure" replied Erasa.

Videl went on to explain their travels over the last month, from the day they fled their home, to the inn that they stayed in, to the weeks of travel they had, going from town to town and the reactions that they got from different people, the good ones and the, mostly, bad reactions that they were receiving. Chichi had been in and out of the room a number of times during the conversation, but had joined the rest of the men outside to give them directions in what they should be doing to get the new home built.

Videl then explained how they came to stay at Gohan's home, as well as the situation that led them there;

"Oh no Videl, that's awful, I'm glad his mom and brother came along when they did, I don't even want to think what would have happened to you if they hadn't gotten there when they did" said Erasa.

"Yeah, I know, but can I tell you something else Erasa?" asked Videl.

"Sure, what is it?" the blonde-haired girl asked.

"Right now, they're out there, laying the foundations of a home for me and dad. Before you got here, we were out looking for a place to start building it and, every time someone suggested somewhere, I said no. Now, don't get me wrong, a lot of the places were wonderful and beautiful, but I didn't want them" explained Videl.

"Oh, and why's that?" asked Erasa.

"Well, to tell you the truth, I…don't' want to be too far away from this house. I want my home to be able to see this one, from wherever it stands" said Videl.

"Oh, is that just so you can see Gohan, wink wink" said Erasa jokingly.

"Well…" Videl started, before being cut off. Erasa gasped;

"Videl, do you have a crush on Gohan?" she asked, longing now for an answer.

"I…I don't know, it's just, since I've gotten here, for the first time in a while…I've felt…safe, ya know" explained Videl.

"Yeah, I get it, you don't want to leave here cause he…they, make you feel safe" said Erasa.

"Right, so I don't want to be that far away, in case we need help" said Videl.

"In all the time I've known you Videl, I don't think I've even seen you worried about your own safety before, this whole ordeal really has done a number on you" said Erasa, as she looked at her friend with worry.

"I'll get there, eventually" said Videl.

"Tell me something then Videl" said Erasa.

"Hmm, what's that?" asked Videl.

"Just between us two, what do you really think of Gohan, I mean, you never really spoke to him in school and didn't really get to know him at all" said Erasa.

"Well, he…he's…he's a really sweet guy, compared to…any, other guy to be honest. He's kind, considerate…and he's got…quite a…hot...body" said Videl, wishing now she hadn't added the last part as she began to blush slightly.

Erasa squealed in excitement at her friend;

"Oh, and how exactly do you know that, miss perv?" asked Erasa, trying to pry the information out of her friend.

"When we sat down to breakfast this morning, he was wearing a t-shirt, which was rather tight on him, and you could pretty much see every muscle he had on him. I'm telling you Erasa, he's more ripped than Sharpner, heck, just about any guy I think I've ever seen" exclaimed Videl.

"Aww, it sounds like Videl has a crush" said Erasa.

"What? No, that's not what I said, I mean, sure, he's definitely good looking and, he wouldn't hurt a fly, but that doesn't mean I have a crush on him" said Videl, defiantly.

"Sure, keep telling yourself that" said Erasa with a cheeky grin on her face, to which Videl was not impressed.

"That's enough of that, shall we go outside to see how they're getting on?" asked Videl.

"Just so you can see Gohan hard at work, don't you mean?" replied Erasa.

"Erasa, stop that" said Videl playfully.


	4. Chapter 4: New Roots

First off, apologies for the massive delay in chapters. Truthfully, life has taken a few unexpected twists and turns and I've basically not been near my pc in so long that nothing new has been written in a while, although I have been managing to get a one shot started for My Hero Academia so I'm hoping to get this story finished one day so that I can concentrate on that for a while.

As far as this story is concerned, it's no further forward than when the last chapter was posted up. However, as I've said before, I've got up to chapter 8 (I think) written so there's still a good bit of reading to go before I run in to any problems.

Without further delay, Chapter 4.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT or Dragonball Super, any of it's film adaptations or the manga.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Gohan, Hercule and Sharpner had started discussing the best way to start the foundations for the home, but couldn't even get it off the ground, so to speak. They discussed the best ways to give it a steady foundation, but they couldn't agree. Eventually, Chichi came outside and told them how to get on with it. Four huge logs, planted firmly in the ground, then some smaller ones to create a base for them to work on. For Gohan, that wouldn't have been too much of an issue, but they couldn't exactly give the game away in front of Hercule and Sharpner, so they had to do it the old-fashioned way and dig holes.

This took way too long for everyone's liking, well, except Gohan, whilst he too was bored, he was no where near out of breath compared to the other two after a few hours. Videl and Erasa had came out to watch them trying to get things underway, whilst chatting to each other about what Videl had missed at school and gossip that, normally, Videl wouldn't have been interested in. Eventually, it was lunch time and Chichi had prepared food for everyone.

Gohan had brought the kitchen table outside as it was a lovely day, the sun shining, a cool breeze in the air and the smell of nature all around them. The seven of them sat and ate lunch (Goten too, as he was just out playing around whilst most of the work was going on) until there wasn't a bite left to eat.

"Thank you Chichi, that was terrific" said Erasa.

"You're welcome, once we get cleaned up, how about us girls go shopping, whilst the "men" try to get some of this done?" Chichi asked the two teenagers.

"Yeah, that sounds great" said Erasa.

"Erm…I'm not so sure" replied a cautious Videl.

"What's up? Is it cause you think people will recognise you?" asked Erasa.

"Well, yeah, you haven't seen the way people have treated me these last few weeks, it's just horrible" replied Videl.

"Hmm, I think I have an idea, c'mon, let's head inside. Chichi, could you help me with something?" asked Erasa.

"Hmm, sure, what is it?" asked Chichi.

"I'll show you inside, c'mon Videl" said Erasa as she grabbed her friends' hand and bolted inside with her.

"I wonder what she's planning, probably something Videl will hate" joked Sharpner.

"Well, what do you say boys, shall we get back to work" said Hercule as the two boys agreed.

* * *

"Are you sure you know what you're doing Erasa" asked Videl.

"Yeah I'm sure, my mom let me cut her hair a bunch of times, granted these aren't the proper type of scissors for the job, but, they'll work" replied Erasa.

The blonde-haired girl was lopping off chunks of Videls locks, slowly whittling away at the volume of Videl's hair. After about a half hours' worth of clipping, Erasa was finished;

"Ok Videl, ready to see the new you?" asked Erasa.

Videl took in a deep breath before answering;

"Ok, I'm ready" she replied.

Erasa picked up a hand mirror and gave it to Videl, who then held it in front of her and looked at her new hairdo;

"I…I…I love it Erasa, I can't believe that's me" she said.

"Told ya I knew what I was doing" said Erasa as she winked at Videl.

"Gee Erasa, I don't know how to thank you for this" said Videl.

"You don't need to thank me silly, we're best friends, I'd do anything for you" said a heartfelt Erasa.

Videl just looked at her friend with a smile and got up and gave her a hug.

"Ok, I think we're ready now, wouldn't you say girls" said Chichi.

"Yeah" both girls replied.

They then made their way outside, where the guys were still working. They had made a little head way towards building the house, however, the foundation was far from complete, let alone the rest of the home. Gohan was the first to catch sight of the women as they exited his home. Once he had seen Videl's new look, he was dumbfounded at first, not quite believing that this was the same girl who, not half an hour ago, still had long luscious raven hair. He was trying to contain his awe at her new look;

"What's wrong Gohan, like what you see" said a teasing Videl.

Gohan snapped back to reality once he realised that she was speaking to him;

"What? Oh, sorry, I was noticing that you cut your hair" he replied.

"Really? So, what do you think then?" she asked.

"It looks…great" smiled Gohan.

"Thanks" said Videl, blushing slightly with embarrassment.

"Whoa, Videl, what happened? Did you get in a fight with a lawnmower?" joked Sharpner.

"What? How dare you Sharpner, I should clobber you for that" growled Videl.

"Videl, what have you done to your hair" said Hercule as he then came over to see what the hold up was with the guys.

"Well dad, I needed a way to blend in more and hide my appearance, so, this was the result" explained Videl.

"Oh, I see, well, it suits you sweetie" said a still flabbergasted Hercule.

"Thanks daddy" replied Videl.

"Alright ladies, let's go" said Chichi.

"We can take my jet-copter, I haven't used it in weeks" said Videl.

"Well let's go then" shouted an excited Erasa.

The girls hopped in to Videl's jet-copter and took off towards West City (opting to go there as it meant there was a much better chance that Videl would not be known to people). The guys continued with their work, however, Gohan was getting distracted slightly, he couldn't quite get the image of Videl and her new hair cut out of his head. He liked it, not that he disliked her hair before, it just seemed like she was glowing with positivity and confidence, something that she had been lacking a lot of lately and Gohan liked that.

* * *

Videl, Erasa and Chichi made it to West City and touched down in a densely populated part of the city and hopped out of the jet-copter. Once the vehicle was safely back in its capsule, the three women made their way towards the mall in the hopes that they could have a relaxing day. Once inside the mall, they had to decide what they were going to do first, as there was a lot of ground to cover;

"So, where should we start first?" asked Chichi.

"I think we should go to the upper floor first and then make our way down" said Erasa.

Videl, was now looking a bit concerned at going to any of the shops;

"What's the matter Videl?" said Erasa.

"Well, I was just so excited to be able to go out and just do something…normal, that I forgot that, I don't actually have any money" said a glum Videl.

"Don't sweat it Videl, it's on me today" offered Erasa.

"Really Erasa? I can't ask you to pay for me, it wouldn't be right" said a now guilty Videl.

"Really Videl, it's no problem, you and your dad done plenty for me for years, it's time I repaid you for a change" said Erasa.

"Thanks Erasa" said Videl, her spirits now lifted.

The women went to the upper floor and began sifting through the shops, trying on different clothes in each shop, just seeing if there was anything that they liked. Like a lot of different American teen shows, they were trying on all sorts of wacky get-ups that nobody in a million years would wear, and they had fun doing it, which kept Videl in high spirits for the whole day.

Eventually, they had been through a number of clothes shops and bought a number of clothes, Videl had managed to pick up an extra number of t-shirts, some baggy like she normally would have worn, some form fitting with V-necks, not something she was accustomed to but, they looked nice to her. She also picked up a few pairs of shorts and a few pairs of jeans as well to round out her new wardrobe that she was essentially buying. She even managed to buy new underwear by asking Erasa for money and making that purchase herself, which her friend had obliged to without asking any questions.

Erasa had picked up some cute outfits for herself, mostly summer wear like denim shorts and crop tops, as well as a bikini top and bottom as well and a t-shirt or two, mostly for lounging around her home in.

Chichi had mostly spent the time picking up things that they needed at home, such as new utensils for the kitchen, some clothes for Goten, new bed sheets, things like these. She had also had the consideration that, since Videl was getting new clothes, Hercule should also get some new clothes, however, she didn't know what size his clothes were and after consulting with Videl, had guessed his size and bought various different clothes in different sizes. She ended up with a few short-sleeved shirts, various types of pants (jeans, sweatpants, etc) and a few pairs of boxers for the man.

They had spent a couple of hours in the mall and had been through almost all of the shops, mostly clothes shops but they also stopped at a nail salon where they all got manicures and pedicures, something that Chichi wasn't accustomed to either, however, she enjoyed the whole experience as much as Videl did. The trio also stopped for coffee and desserts (mainly Videl and Erasa had desserts) and were just about finished their shopping spree when they stopped in one last clothes shop;

"Hey Videl, tell me something, of all the clothes you brought with you, did you pack any kind of formal wear at all?" asked Chichi.

"Hmm, I don't think so, it wasn't really top of my list when I was stuffing things in to a suitcase" replied Videl.

"Well then, let's have a look over here" said Chichi as she urged Videl to follow her.

They were looking at different types of dresses, some very glittery silver dresses, some black dresses with the slit in the dress almost waist high which Videl didn't care for too much, then there were some very wacky dresses which had all sorts of accessories which Videl looked at and pitied whomever had to wear them. Eventually, she spotted something that was a little bit different, it was a red cheongsam (a/n: Chinese dress), with a golden floral design that ran from the bottom of the dress, which was just below the knees, spiralling all around until it reached the top, just under the neck area. The trim of the dress was also finished with a golden yellow thread to go with the gold floral design.

Videl fell in love with the dress and wanted to try it on, to which Chichi and Erasa encouraged her to do so. Whilst Videl went to go change in to the dress, Chichi was reminded of her cheongsam;

"I remember when I used to wear something similar to that" said Chichi.

"You had one? Nice, what did it look like?" asked Erasa.

"It was blue and I wore a pair of red pants underneath it, as well as red coloured armbands and shoes to match. Although, I did wear mine more for fighting in than for style" said Chichi.

"You fought in clothes like that? Why were you fighting in the first place?" asked Erasa.

"Oh, I used to do martial arts, I even entered the World Martial Arts Tournament once, that's where I met Gohan's father, Goku. I even fought against him, in a losing effort, but ultimately, I won when I married him" said Chichi.

"Aww, that's so sweet" said Erasa.

Just as Erasa had finished speaking, Videl stepped out from the changing room;

"Ok, how do I look?" asked Videl.

Videl now had on this red dress, that went down to just below her knees, with a slit in the dress which, Videl didn't like too much but it allowed her some freedom of movement so it wasn't all bad. The dress was very form fitting and you could see all of Videls curves, something that she was always a bit embarrassed about, however, both ladies made sure that Videl had nothing to worry about with regards to that;

"Videl!" exclaimed Erasa, "YOU. LOOK. AMAZING!" she screeched.

"Videl, you look like a very elegant young woman" said Chichi.

"Wow, thanks, I wasn't sure what to think at first" said Videl, twirling in the mirror, "But now, I feel like a whole new person. Thanks, both of you for taking me out today" Videl finished.

"Of course, what are friends for" said Erasa.

"Videl dear, if you want to get changed, we'll purchase the dress and then head home" said Chichi.

"Sure" said a very cheery Videl.

Chichi paid for the dress and the three women made their way out of the mall. Once they had gotten to a designated spot for take offs in the city, Videl flung her capsule to the ground and watched as it appeared in a puff of smoke. They placed all the shopping in to the storage compartment of the jet-copter and were about to take off, when Videl realised that they were running low on fuel, not enough to make the long trip back;

"Eh, we might have a problem" she said.

"What's the matter dear?" asked Chichi.

"Well, we've got fuel but it won't be enough to get all the way back home" explained Videl.

"What about you Erasa, didn't you arrive today in a jet-copter?" asked Chichi.

"Yeah but I left mine with Sharpner back at your home" said Erasa, cursing herself for leaving it.

"Ok, well, I have an idea, do we have enough to get to Capsule Corp?" asked Chichi.

"Yeah, we've got plenty for that, why?" asked Videl.

"Trust me, I know some people" said Chichi.

"Alright, I guess we're heading to Capsule Corp then" said Videl.

She motioned the jet-copter in to the air and headed in the direction for Capsule Corp. Videl had wondered who it was that Chichi knew there, surely it couldn't be THE Bulma Briefs, no, it was likely somebody in upper management, maybe an executive at best, or it could even just be a lab assistant, she had no idea really. All she could do was fly there and see what happens.

* * *

Meanwhile, back outside the Son household, the guys had managed to finally get a foundation for the house, however, it took some time to get going. This was due to Hercules plans for the house, changing on a whim every so often. Eventually, after a lengthy discussion, the men had managed to hash out exactly what was NEEDED in the house, as opposed to what Hercule WANTED in the house.

They settled on a living room or front room of sorts, a kitchen, a bathroom, and two bedrooms. With the space that the home could afford, after they had over estimated the size of the foundation required, it was decided that the home could have two en-suite bathrooms in each bedroom and a walk-in closet for each bedroom as well. This still left an unclaimed space in the downstairs area, which Hercule said he would find some sort of use for it at a later time.

Since a lot of the time was taken up with discussions about what to do with the space, only the huge holes for the logs had been started and not much else had been done. The holes themselves were not very deep either, mainly due to the limitations of Hercule and Sharpner, otherwise Gohan would have had the job done a lot quicker.

Instead, they decided to get the wood required, so they headed off to the edge of the forest away from where the homes would be and picked out a few trees that they would be using for the build. Goten picked out a tree which Gohan approved of, Sharpner and Hercule both picked out mighty trees as well, however, they only had 1 axe between them so they picked one of the trees and began taking swings at it.

A few more hours had passed and they had eventually managed to fell the tree and had begun to chop it in to the pieces that they required. Soon after they had begun to dissect it, they had decided that it was probably a good time to call it quits for the day, well, at least for dinner. It wouldn't be long until the girls were due to arrive back so they headed back to the house, where upon arriving, Gohan started preparing food for dinner, whilst Goten, Sharpner and Hercule sat in the front room watching tv, waiting for the girls to arrive home.

* * *

The jet-copter carrying Videl, Chichi and Erasa, arrived just outside the grounds of Capsule Corp. The three ladies disembarked the vehicle and Videl capsulised it and they made their way to the front door where they entered the building and walked in to the rather large reception area, of which there was a lady sat behind a desk opposite the front door;

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Yes, can we speak to Bulma please? Tell her it's Chichi" replied Chichi.

"Just a moment please" said the young lady as she made a phone call.

"Bulma? You mean as in, THE Bulma Briefs" said a startled Erasa.

"Yeah, that's the one" replied Chichi.

"H-how do you know her?" asked a puzzled Videl.

"Me and my husband have known her since we were young, although I did lose touch for a number of years" replied Chichi.

No sooner than Chichi had explained how she knew Bulma, did the woman herself appear;

"Hey Chichi, what brings you around here?" asked Bulma.

"Oh, nothing much, just wondering if you could do us a favour" said Chichi.

"Us? Who's us?" asked Bulma.

"Oh, right, let me introduce you, this is Videl and Erasa, they're Gohan's friends from school" explained Chichi.

"Oh, a pleasure to meet you both" said Bulma.

"…it…it's an honour to meet you Mrs Briefs" said an astonished Erasa.

"It's nice to meet you too Mrs Briefs" said a flustered Videl.

"Please girls, call me Bulma. Now Chichi, what did you need from me?" asked Bulma.

"Well, I'm sure you've heard and seen the news about Mr Satan?" asked Chichi.

"Yeah, of course I have" replied Bulma.

"Well, Videl here is Mr Satan's daughter and they happened to be passing by our neck of the woods when me and Goten found them in a bad spot. I've taken them in for now but we're planning on building them a home near to ours, so whilst the men are doing the work, we decided to go shopping" explained Chichi.

"That sounds great, but, that doesn't answer my question Chichi" said Bulma

"Well, we took Videl's jet-copter here but I'm afraid she won't have enough fuel to get us back home, do you think you could help us?" asked Chichi.

"Really, that's it? No problem, in fact, perhaps you could do me a favour while you're at it" said Bulma.

"And what's that?" asked Chichi.

"Well, we've got a new model that needs testing and it's already fuelled up, we just haven't arranged for a test run yet, so if you'd like, you can take it out for a test run" offered Bulma.

"Really?" Videl said, wide eyed at the prospect of getting a new model of jet to fly at the request of none other than Bulma Briefs herself.

"Sure, if you give me yours, I'll get it fuelled back up and even throw in a free service, all you have to do is bring it back tomorrow and tell me if there's anything wrong with it" said Bulma.

"Yeah, sure, hehe" said a giddy Videl.

"Great. Whilst you're here Chichi, I was going to have a dinner party at the end of the week with all of our friends, thought I'd tell you now so I don't forget later" said Bulma.

"That sounds great Bulma" smiled Chichi.

"Oh, and Videl, you and your father, and Erasa are also invited if you would like to come too" said Bulma.

"Really, gosh, I mean, if it's a party for your friends, I don't think I…" was all Videl could say before she was cut off by a hyper excited Erasa;

"YES! Absolutely! I mean, thank you, we are most grateful" said Erasa, calming down slightly.

"No problem, do you want a tour of the place whilst you're here?" asked Bulma.

"I'm afraid not Bulma, we've left the boys alone too long, goodness knows what they've done whilst we've been gone" said Chichi, much to Videl and Erasas disappointment.

"However, when we come back for that dinner party, I'm sure the girls can get a tour then, can't they Bulma?" said Chichi.

"Absolutely" replied Bulma.

"Awesome" said both girls at the same time.

"Wait right here and I'll get that jet for you" said Bulma, as she went to fetch the latest model jet from the lab.

The three ladies sat about in the reception area for about five minutes until Bulma returned with a capsule;

"Here you go" she said.

"Thanks" replied Videl.

Videl then handed over the capsule with her jet-copter in it before they all said their goodbyes and the three ladies made their way outside. Once outside, they headed back to where they had touched down in the first place and Videl threw the capsule on to the ground. There stood a brand new, top of the line jet-copter. It had space for four passengers and about the same amount of luggage space as Videls had. However, it was a sleeker design and the colour palette was made up primarily of white for the main body, with purple and red trim on some of the fins and the nose piece of the jet.

Videl loved it and couldn't wait to jump right in. They packed all their shopping in to it and hopped in, with Videl eager to get going, however, she remembered to keep calm and do all the pre-flight checks a responsible pilot would do. After being satisfied with everything, she motioned the jet in to the sky and took off in the direction of Mt Paozu. She got it cruising along at a speed that just about matched the top speed of her own jet-copter and yet, she felt it had much more to give, but she wasn't going to test that out right now, not with her passengers on board at least, so they steadily made their way home and Videl kept her eagerness in check for the trip home.

* * *

Gohan, Goten, Hercule and Sharpner were sitting at the kitchen table eating the food that Gohan had made for them as the girls had not yet returned home;

"I wonder what's taking them so long?" Gohan asked aloud.

"Have you never been shopping with women before Gohan? They could spend days shopping and not come home if it were physically possible" said Sharpner.

"The boy's right, I don't see the appeal in it myself" agreed Hercule.

"Never mind that, what I wanna know, is how you ended up learning to cook so well, this is good stuff" said Sharpner.

"Thanks, my mom taught me to cook over the years, but I also did some…survival training when I was younger" said Gohan, hesitant at how to describe being left in the middle of nowhere to survive on your own.

"Really? Wow, I wouldn't have pegged you for surviving out in the woods" replied Sharpner.

"Well, it wasn't exactly voluntary" replied Gohan with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Anyway, looking at our progress out there today boys, I think it's gonna take a while to get this finished. Say, Gohan, do you think your mom will let us stay until it's finished?" asked Hercule.

"I'm sure she will, but you might wanna ask her about that just to be safe" replied Gohan.

"Sure, no problem" said Hercule.

"Hey, I have an idea, why don't you just ask the dragon?" piped up Goten.

Gohan looked at Goten with wide eyes, unable to grasp what his younger brother had just said.

"Ask the dragon? What are you talking about?" asked Sharpner.

Goten looked at Gohan and realised that his expression had changed from puzzled to scathing, well, his eyes told it all anyway. Gohan then decided to reply for him;

"Haha, he's just kidding, the dragon is…just a nick name that we give to someone we know who…knows how to get things done" replied Gohan.

"This fella sure sounds like he could help" said Hercule.

"Yeah, true, but unfortunately, he only ever comes around once a year so, he won't be available to help us for some time yet" said Gohan.

"Aww, that's too bad, it was a nice thought though" replied Hercule.

Gohan, thankful for the impressively poor lie he just told, made a mental note to scald Goten later, however, he chose to not tell their mom as she might blow the whole thing out of proportion.

The four of them continued eating their food until it had all gone. Gohan cleaned up and asked Goten to help him wash and dry the dishes, allowing Sharpner and Hercule to relax and watch some tv in the front room.

"Nice one Goten, you can't just say things like that, you've gotta think about who's in the room" said Gohan in a low voice to his younger sibling.

"I'm sorry Gohan, I just thought that maybe Shenron could help" replied Goten.

"True, he could, but we don't want to waste a wish on helping them build a house, we might need that wish for something else" explained Gohan.

"Ok, I understand" said Goten.

"But thanks for trying anyway Goten" smiled Gohan.

As their conversation was just finishing, they could hear the sound of a jet-copter touching down outside. The two boys peered out the kitchen window to see this big, white, shiny looking jet, landing just outside their home. They didn't recognise it and were curious to see who was inside, until the cockpit opened up and they could see Videl, Chichi and Erasa climbing out. Gohan went to go outside and let Sharpner and Hercule know that they had returned;

"Hey, they're back and it looks like they've got a lot of shopping with them" said Gohan, making his way towards the front door. Sharpner and Hercule got up and followed him outside.

"Hey, welcome home" shouted Gohan to the ladies as he stepped outside.

"Hi sweetie, could you give us a hand over here" shouted back Chichi.

"Ok, sure thing mom" he replied.

The three men each went over to help the ladies with their shopping. Hercule helped Chichi with her bags, although there weren't that many and Sharpner helped Erasa, although she only had two and he was made to carry both. Gohan offered to help Videl as she had the most bags and he took four bags from her, leaving Videl with only one left;

"Hey, you want me to take that one as well for you Videl? Don't worry, they're not all that heavy" said Gohan.

"N-no…it's ok…I've got this one" said Videl with a look of embarrassment.

"O…k, that's fine" replied Gohan.

Videl wasn't about to let Gohan take the bag with the underwear she had bought in it. It's not that the underwear was anything special, it was just a private matter for her and her alone, so she kept that bag for herself.

Eventually, they all ended up inside the home and the bags were either unpacked, put away in a room (in Videl's case) or left at the door (in Erasa's case). Chichi was about to start making dinner when Gohan had informed her that they had already eaten as they were expected back earlier and offered to make them some as well. Chichi was happy that her son offered to make food for them, it wasn't often that he did so she took him up on the offer and made some tea for herself, Hercule, Videl and Erasa. Sharpner was content with some orange juice and Gohan and Goten were happy to have the same.

Whilst Gohan made more food, the rest of the group chatted among themselves in the front room, discussing what they had gotten up to that day. Hercule and Sharpner tried to be show offs, explaining "their" ideas for the new home and the tree they brought down, as well as the big holes that they had dug so far.

Erasa told them about their shopping adventures, which wasn't anything special to the guys as they weren't keen shoppers of course, but the trip to Capsule Corp caught their attention, not to mention that they got to meet Bulma Briefs. Hercule and Sharpner couldn't believe it until Chichi explained not only how they knew Bulma, but that they were on such friendly terms, that they could practically go over any time they wanted. Hercule and Sharpner were in awe and hoped that maybe one day they'd get the chance to be introduced to her, even just to have a short conversation with her, seeing as she was not only the richest woman in the world, but also a genius too.

Time passed on and it was getting late in to the evening, where Erasa and Sharpner had to head home before it got too dark to fly. They said their goodbyes and promised to come back and visit again, hopefully to a new house, before hopping in to Erasa's jet copter and flying back to Orange Star City (they had successfully changed the name that day, unbeknown to Erasa and Sharpner until they had returned);

"Well, I think I'm going to got bed, I'm tired" said Gohan.

"I know what you mean, I'm beat. I think I'll turn in too" said Videl.

"Goten, you get cleaned up then head to bed too, ok?" said Chichi, addressing her youngest.

"Ok mom" replied Goten.

As the kids went to bed, Hercule got his fold out bed arranged in the front room before approaching Chichi to ask a question;

"Say, Chichi, can I ask you a something?" said Hercule.

"Hmm, sure, what is it?" she replied.

"Well, you've been awfully good to us, me and Videl, and we don't want to outstay our welcome here, but, how long can we stay here for, if you don't mind me asking?" he said.

"Well, as long as you're building a home, then I'm sure we can accommodate, however, if you change your mind and no longer want to build a home out here, then we might need to reconsider, sound fair?" she asked.

"More than fair, thank you Chichi" he replied.

"Good, I'm glad that's settled. Well I'm going to bed, good night Hercule" she said.

"Good night Chichi" he replied.

Soon, the whole house was asleep, all except for Videl. Whilst she was tired from the day, her mind was still quite awake, troubling her in fact as she couldn't shake some weird feeling, a feeling of…guilt.


	5. Chapter 5: Decisions Decisions

Thankfully, this update is a bit quicker than the last one. Unfortunately, I can't put a time on when updates will happen, I'm not at home every night and don't have access to the story when I'm not at home so it's taking a lot longer than I had wished to write this. Still, another chapter, am I right?

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT or Dragonball Super, any of it's film adaptations or the manga.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Gohan awoke to an unfamiliar sight and sound that night. He had been dreaming about school and showing off in front of the girls. In his dream, he was a popular kid, what is otherwise, affectionately known as a jock, on one of the school's sports teams (although he wasn't sure which one, going from what he dreamt). He was standing by the baseball field, flexing his muscles and having all the girls swoon over him as he started to show off, first by lifting one of the girls with one arm, then lifting a second girl in the other arm.

He could hear the girls calling his name;

"_Gohan_" came the voices.

"_Gohan!_" again, only this time, just one voice.

"Gohan!" came the voice again, only it sounded so real and at a low whisper.

Gohan turned his head and slowly opened his eyes, only seeing a blur in his vision;

"Mom? What are you doing here?" asked Gohan, still half dreaming.

"What? No, it's me, Videl" she whispered.

"What?" Gohan exclaimed as he opened his eyes wider and could now see that it was in fact, Videl.

He then realised that, he was no longer dreaming and that Videl was next to him, in his room, as he looked over to the clock and realised that it was one in the morning;

"Videl, what are you doing? In my room? At one in the morning?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have woken you up, I'll just go back to bed" said Videl.

Gohan could tell there was some sadness in her voice and now regret in her face for waking him up;

"No, it's alright, you clearly need to talk about something, or you wouldn't be waking me up at this time, now would you?" he asked, sitting up in his bed.

"Well, yeah, yeah I need to talk about something" she said.

"I kinda, feel bad, about today" she continued.

"What do you mean?" he asked, moving his legs and offering Videl a place to sit on the bed.

"Well, I was so happy at seeing my friends for the first time in like, forever, then with your mom suggesting the shopping trip, which isn't something I normally would have done by the way, but it felt great, just to be able to be…semi-normal again" she explained as she sat on the bed next to him.

"Okay, so, why do you feel bad then?" he asked.

"Well, it never occurred to me until this evening that, my dad was basically here, all day, working to give me and him a home, while I was out having fun, doing what I wanted to do to enjoy myself. He can't exactly go out anywhere, since just about everyone knows who he is but now I've changed my hair and my clothes, I could pretty much go anywhere except for Satan…I mean, Orange Star City" said a guilt ridden Videl.

"Hey, you can't blame yourself, you've been out there roughing it for weeks, which is more than a lot of people could have managed. It's only natural that you'd want to take time to enjoy yourself and let loose a little" he said.

"Yeah, maybe, but I didn't even give it a second thought, I just feel so selfish, leaving him here and not even bothering to see if he wanted anything brought home. At least your mom had the decency to buy him some clothes. Which leads me on to my next problem" she said.

"Oh, and what's that?" he said, rubbing one eye as he still wasn't completely awake.

"Well, Erasa practically bought everything for me, and your mom helped a little, not to mention the jet that I'm testing for Bulma, I'm used to working hard and earning things and this, just doesn't feel right to me. I need to repay them all for their generosity, but I don't know where to start. Not being homeless and broke would be a start" she said.

"Look, everyone needs help sometimes, especially when things get rough, besides, it's not like you haven't worked for it, just think of all the stuff you did for the city before this all started and all the hard work you've put in to surviving the last month, I'd say you've earned some time off" he said as he put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"I wouldn't worry about money right now, try this, concentrate on completing one task every day, it doesn't matter how big or small it is, as long as you complete it, then you'll have accomplished something, and that will set you up for bigger and brighter things" he said, confidently.

"Wow, thanks Gohan, that was…quite insightful of you" she said, with admiration.

"There's just one other thing that I can't quite figure out, you!" she said.

"Me? Whaddya mean?" he said looking puzzled.

"I mean, I never really spoke to you in school, quite frankly, I just went about my days as if you didn't even exist, and now, here I am, relying on you and your family's generosity and you could have said something about it or, flat out refused to help me, but instead, you've been kind and pushing me to strive for greater things" she said, before letting out a sigh and continuing.

"What I'm trying to say, is thank you Gohan. You've made me feel genuinely happy for the first time in a long, long time" she said, as she reached over and gave him a heartfelt hug.

"No problem, if you wanna talk about anything, just let me know, I'm happy to listen" he said.

"Thanks. Anyway, I better get back to bed, pleasant dreams Gohan" she said.

"Good night Videl" he replied.

* * *

Later that morning, Videl woke up, refreshed and feeling…happy. It was the first time she had woken up and was happy in a long time, although, she was more used to waking up and checking her surroundings in paranoia. She got out of bed and got dressed and made her way downstairs. Chichi was already downstairs in the kitchen having a coffee;

"Good morning Videl" she said.

"Good morning Chichi" replied Videl.

"So, what are your plans for today Videl?" asked Chichi.

"I don't know to be honest, I thought I might help with building the house with dad and Gohan but, I don't know what they'll need me to do" admitted Videl.

"Well I'm sure they'll find something for you to do" replied Chichi.

The two women sat for about ten minutes chatting away to each other before Gohan had entered the room, not long woken up.

"Morning mom, Videl" he said as he sat down at the table.

"Good morning sweetie" said Chichi.

"Morning Gohan, how did you sleep?" asked Videl.

"I slept alright, considering" said Gohan.

"Considering what?" asked Chichi.

Gohan realised what he said might be a mistake in front of Chichi but it was too late for that now;

"Ugh, well, you see, I woke last night due to…er…a bad dream, yeah and it was hard for me to get back to sleep" stumbled Gohan.

"Oh, I see, well I hope you still got enough sleep, you'll need to get back to work on that house" said Chichi, suspecting that Gohan wasn't telling the whole truth but wouldn't press for any more information.

"Yeah, I did, we'll get back to work, right after breakfast" he said.

Chichi was glad he got the sleep as he most likely would be doing the majority of the work that day. Gohan and Videl sat and made small talk for a while as Chichi began to make breakfast. Soon after Goten bounced in to the room and joined them at the kitchen table and Hercule followed suit, although he was most likely awake due to Goten's loud arrival.

They all ate breakfast and soon were ready to get back to work on the house. Gohan and Hercule made their way outside, followed by Videl and Goten. The four of them continued on digging the holes that would be required for the build. It took them most of the morning, in fact, it took them all the way to lunch before they had stopped. Goten and Gohan weren't troubled by the work load (and why should they) but Videl and Hercule were tired already.

They went back inside for lunch and to have a rest, all except for Goten, as lunch wasn't ready, he opted to stay outside and try to catch the butterflies in the garden, all the while having fun.

The day went on, the group having had their lunch and rest and doing more digging work, stopping more and more due to Videl and Hercule not having the stamina to keep going. Eventually, they had managed to get the hole deep enough for the wooden log stilts that would be holding this new home up.

Although it did present a problem as they hadn't factored in that the holes were now bigger than them all. Thankfully for the Saiyan genes as Goten and Gohan were able to easily climb out. The two boys both helped Hercule out of his hole and then Gohan went over to where Videl was;

"Uh, a little help" said Videl as she laughed it off.

"Sure, here, grab my hand" said Gohan.

Videl grabbed his hand and Gohan pulled her out of the hole in one motion. She was surprised by the strength he had just used to pull her out of the hole and stumbled forward slightly, right in front of Gohan, as she looked and realised that her face was practically buried in his chest, she slowly tilted her head upwards and her eyes met his.

He was looking down at her, slightly confused, mainly because she was now looking at him in a similar confused state. He just smiled at her and then realised that his hands were around her waist, which was due to her stumbling forward and he instinctively grabbed to brace her from falling over.

Videl, now also realising that his hands were around her waist, blushed slightly and grabbed his hands and removed them from her waist before speaking;

"Thanks, Gohan" she said, as she turned away from him, her face still slightly flustered, walking back towards the house.

"You're…welcome?" replied a somewhat confused Gohan.

They all returned to the house again, this time it was the middle of the afternoon, too early for dinner but Videl and Hercule couldn't go on, they needed to stop and take a longer rest before they could do anything else.

"Man, I'm beat" said Videl as she slumped in to the sofa.

"Tell me about it, I don't think I could lift another tool if I tried" exclaimed Hercule.

"Well, I suppose we can stop for the day" said Gohan,

"But we'll need to chop some more trees, and we'll still need to find some really big trees for the holes to act as stilts cause the trees we picked yesterday just aren't thick enough" he continued.

"Oh, ok, well, maybe we can go pick the trees then?" questioned Hercule.

"Sure, we can wait a while before doing that if you want?" asked Gohan.

"Sure" replied Hercule.

"I think I could go tree hunting just now" said Videl.

"Really? Are you sure you don't want to stop for a rest just now?" Gohan asked Videl.

"Nah, I'll be fine, just need to grab a drink first" she said.

"Alright, whenever you're ready" he said.

Videl went to the kitchen and grabbed a drink of juice before heading back in to the front room;

"Ok, ready" she said.

"Great, let's go" he said.

"Goten, are you coming along?" he asked his younger brother.

"Nah, mom wants me to study some more today" Goten complained.

"Bummer, well, if you get stuck, let me know when I get back little bro" said Gohan.

"Ok, Gohan, see ya later" said Goten, as Gohan and Videl left the house.

* * *

Gohan and Videl had been walking through the forest for a while now in to the denser parts, looking for some really big tree or trees that they could use for building the home. It had been some twenty minutes since they had begun the trek, almost all of which, was in silence, until Videl broke peacefulness;

"So…Gohan, I was meaning to ask you something" she said.

"Ok, shoot" said Gohan, slightly startled as he was enjoying the quiet walk that they had been enjoying.

"Well, it's been great, you and your family taking us in, but something was racking my brain earlier. When your mom and Goten found us, we were in a tight spot and we couldn't defend ourselves, but by the end of it all, all of those men were left battered and bruised" she explained.

"Uh huh" he replied.

"I didn't exactly see what happened, I was too busy huddling in with dad and kept my eyes closed because I…I wa…I was scared" she said, ashamedly.

"Well of course you were scared, you were in a position that you weren't familiar or comfortable with Videl. You've always been used to dealing with bad guys, even if the odds were against you" he said, looking to reassure her.

"I know, but that wasn't what I was getting at. It only occurred to me earlier today that, since it wasn't me or dad, that it had to be either your mom or brother but…they were all laid out, surely even the two of them didn't stop them all?" she questioned.

"Well…" he began hesitantly, wondering how he should explain it. After pondering for a moment, he decided to tell the truth and just omit certain truths;

"Well, Goten has been trained in martial arts for quite some time now and, he can pack a wallop when he wants to. They probably just didn't know how to handle a kid kicking their butts" he grinned, hoping she wouldn't press the matter too much further.

"Martial arts? Really? I would never have guessed that that little ball of energy would be trained in martial arts. Hold on…does that mean…that you've trained as well?" she then asked.

"Uh…y-yeah" he replied cautiously.

"Oh, interesting, I never pegged you for the fighting type Gohan" she said.

"I'm really not a fighter Videl. I was trained when I was a little bit younger than Goten, against my will I might add, although that training has gotten me out of a few tricky situations" he revealed.

"Oh, care to tell me?" she asked.

"Um…well, a lot of those times are…hard…for me to talk about, do you mind if we don't talk about them please?" he begged of her.

"Sure, but if you change your mind then I'll be all ears" she smiled at him.

"Thanks" he smiled back.

"So, Gohan, maybe one day we could spar together, seeing as you're trained in martial arts. It might help me and dad get back in to shape" she said.

"Er…sure, why not" he said.

Gohan wasn't quite sure about that last idea of hers, she wasn't wrong though, it would really help both of them to train again, he just wasn't sure because if she found out just exactly how strong he was, it might cause some tension between them all.

They continued examining some trees in the area, trying to figure if any of them would be suitable for the house that was to be built. Eventually, they had searched the area but did not find anything that was suitable for their needs, so they headed back to the house as it was approaching dinner time.

* * *

The household had all been well fed and it was now late in the evening. Goten had already been ushered to bed by Chichi and Gohan and Videl had gotten changed in to their clothes for bed but were still sat in the front room with Hercule and Chichi making small talk.

Eventually, Videl went to bed and Gohan followed not long after. Chichi also left to go to bed and made her way upstairs, but when she got up there, she had caught sight of Gohan trying to grab her attention and made her way towards him. He had retreated back in to his room and waited for his mother to join him, which she eventually did;

"Gohan, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Close the door" he whispered.

Chichi closed the door over and turned back towards her son;

"Gohan, what's the matter?" asked a slightly more concerned Chichi.

"Nothing's wrong mom, I just didn't want either of them hearing us" he explained.

"Oh, ok, then what is it then?" she asked, for the third time.

"Well, I was thinking that, tomorrow I might explain to them about the Cell games and…well, what exactly we're capable of?" he said.

"Really? Are you sure tomorrow is a good idea? After all, they've only been here a few days" she said.

"Well not everything, I'm just gonna start small, maybe even just little bits of information here and there" he said.

"Ok, just be careful Gohan, we don't want to scare them, they've got nowhere else to go right now" explained Chichi.

"Ok mom" he replied.

Chichi kissed her son good night on the forehead and made her way out of the room, closing the door behind her as Gohan flopped back on to his bed;

"Now, the only question is, where do I start? I can't just say that I beat Cell, she'll ask how I ended up there, who those other people were, how we were flying, etc" he mumbled to himself.

Then, realisation set in, he could teach her how to fly. That would be an easy introduction in to the whole thing, well, except that he would have to teach her about energy control, after all, as far as she knew, it was all 'light tricks', courtesy of her dad. Thankfully, energy control shouldn't be too hard for Videl, being a martial artist and all, it always seemed easier for martial artists to learn to fly than any regular person.

However, she might not have the strength right now to do any energy control, she was still lacking some of the strength she used to have when she was constantly training.

"Maybe I'll start with sparring, she was definitely keen to have a go at me" he continued to mumble.

"Or, maybe we could train together" a sudden thought had filled his mind. He remembered his dad used to talk about the training that he and Krillin would do with Master Roshi. Maybe he and Videl could do something like that, build her strength back up and with time, she'd then be able to do energy control.

That was something he would worry about tomorrow, right now, he only wanted to sleep, it was a long day and, although he wasn't physically worn out, it was more mental fatigue, as he was having to keep a check on his strength the whole day which took more concentration to do than he realised.

Videl was laying on the bed, staring up to the ceiling once again, her mind had its own ideas and wasn't allowing her to sleep, despite the hard work she had put in that day. She was thinking about the dinner party that Bulma had invited her and her father and Erasa to, after all, she had only recently met Bulma Briefs and was already invited to a party that she was not only attending, but was hosting.

"It would be nice to meet some of Gohan's friends and family" she whispered to herself.

"After all, I wasn't much of a friend to him this year, in fact, nobody really was, except for Erasa, although she could be friends with just about anyone" she continued.

"Maybe I should get to know him better, after all, I am sleeping in his brother's bedroom, in his house" she pointed out.

She had decided that, tomorrow, she was going to try and be a better friend to Gohan and try and learn about him. After all, he wasn't like other guys, he wasn't awe struck by who she or her father was, he never asked for an autograph from or to be trained by 'The Champ'. No, all he ever did was ask her how she was doing and if she was ok, to which she almost always replied - "I'm fine"- and then either stormed off or gave him a cold shoulder.

Yeah, tomorrow, she decided, was the day that she would start to right wrongs, even if it was the only task that she completed tomorrow, it would allow her to move on to bigger and brighter things.

_'Silly Gohan'_ she thought before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

AN: Apologies, this chapter isn't quite as long as the rest, nor is the next chapter, but the chapter after that is more the size of the chapters prior to this.


	6. Chapter 6: Finding a Sensei

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT or Dragonball Super, any of it's film adaptations or the manga.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

The next day, Gohan had woken up early and made his way to the bathroom as normal and got showered and changed. He decided that the first thing that they should do today once they had both gotten up, showered and had breakfast, would be to head over to Krillin's house and ask him about training them. After all, he did receive training from Master Roshi personally, so he was probably best qualified to ask.

Although, he probably didn't know about the current situation, sure he would definitely have known about what happened to Hercule and Videl, but not that they were living with them. Gohan decided that he'd give his old friend a call first to make sure that he was aware of the circumstances and then to see if he would train them.

Once he was done in the bathroom, he went downstairs and found his mom in the kitchen as she was always up earlier than everyone else;

"Morning mom" he said.

"Oh, good morning Gohan, up early I see" said Chichi.

"Yeah, actually mom, I wanted to run an idea by you" he said.

"Go on" she replied.

"Well, remember our conversation last night?" he asked.

"Yes" she replied.

"Well, I was thinking, I can't just dive right in to the subject so, what if I start up with something like flying? That way, I can build up to the whole thing" he asked.

"Hmm, it does sound like a logical way to approach the subject" she replied.

"That's what I thought, however, that means I'd need to explain, and likely teach energy control and I don't think she's in a physical condition to do that just yet, so, I thought about giving Krillin a call and see if he'd train them both, the way Master Roshi taught him and dad when they were kids" he explained.

"Oh, that's a wonderful idea Gohan. Just make sure that Master Roshi himself isn't there, that old disgusting man" said Chichi.

"Will do mom. I'll go call him right now" he said.

"Ok dear, I'll make breakfast for when you're done" she replied.

Gohan left the room and made his way to the hallway where the phone sat. He picked up the receiver and started dialling a number and the phone rang on the other end a few times before someone picked up;

"Hello" came a dull, monotone voice.

"Hi 18, it's Gohan" he said.

"Gohan, it's good to hear from you. How is everyone" asked the blonde bombshell.

"Yeah, we're all doing fine, is Krillin about? I've got a question I need to ask him" he asked.

"Sure, hold on" she replied.

"Here, it's for you" she said, turning to her short husband and holding out the receiver.

"Hey Gohan, long time no speak, what's up?" he asked excitedly as he took the phone from his wife's hand.

"Well, a lot actually. Have you been watching the news over the last month or so?" Gohan asked.

"Yeah, I've been watching it every so often, why do you ask?" replied Krillin.

"Well, did you see the thing about Mr Satan and his daughter?" Gohan then asked.

"Oh yeah, that, sure I did, I couldn't have been happier, seeing that gas bag lose the wind in his sails" Krillin beamed down the phone.

"Well, something interesting's happened" Gohan said nervously.

"Oh wait, don't tell me, they fled their home, walked for weeks in the wilderness, ended up at your home and now you've put a roof over their head" said Krillin, trying to contain his laughter.

"Well…" began Gohan before he was cut off.

"Wait! Are you seriously telling me Gohan that…they're both at your house right now?" asked Krillin.

"Um, yeah, that's exactly what happened" replied Gohan.

"Wow, didn't see that coming" exclaimed Krillin.

"So anyway, Krillin, I wanted to ask you a favour" said Gohan.

"Uh okay, what is it?" he asked.

"Well…" Gohan started to say but then he noticed Videl's energy, as low as it was, had moved from her bed and was making its way towards the stairs.

"There's something that I need to discuss but I can't do it over the phone, do you mind if I come over later today" Gohan asked.

"Um, ok, sure" Krillin replied.

"Great, I'll see ya later Krillin" said Gohan, hanging up the phone.

"See ya later Gohan" said Krillin as he too hung up the phone.

"What did he want?" asked 18.

"Not sure to be honest with you, but wait until you get a load of what he told me though…"

* * *

Videl had awoken and was feeling tired, turning over in the bed and picking up her cellphone and looking at the time on it. It read 7.20am;

"Ugh, why am I up so early" she moaned to herself.

She rose out of the bed and put her clothes on and made her way out of the room. She walked towards the stairs and could hear a voice, Gohan's voice, but it only seemed to be a one-sided conversation, as if he wasn't talking to anyone. Eventually, Videl realised that he must be on the phone and that's why she thought he had gone crazy and started talking to himself.

She descended the stairs slowly as Gohan had finished his conversation with…whomever it was. As she reached the bottom stair, Gohan had turned around to see Videl;

"Good morning Videl" he said.

"Morning Gohan" she said, rubbing one of her eyes as she wasn't fully awake yet, "Who was that you were talking to?" she asked.

"Oh, that? That was my friend Krillin. I need to stop by his later on today" he said.

"Oh, ok, if you want I could give you a lift? I've still got the jet from Bulma…which I was supposed to return yesterday" Videl suddenly realised.

"That would be great, if you don't mind that is" he replied.

"Sure, no problem, but first, I need something to eat and drink, I'm still tired and so hungry" she said.

The two teenagers walked in to the kitchen;

"Good morning Videl. So Gohan, how did the phone call go?" Chichi asked.

"It went well, I'll need to go over to Krillin's later on though" he said, giving his mother a serious look.

Chichi understood that he couldn't talk in present company;

"That's nice, tell them I said hello would you dear" replied Chichi.

"Will do mom" he said.

The three of them sat and ate breakfast for a while until their plates were cleared;

"Wow, I'm stuffed, thanks Chichi" said Videl.

"No problem dear" she replied.

Videl headed back upstairs to go get changed whilst Gohan sat at the kitchen table waiting for Videl to get ready. Goten had stumbled down the stairs and in to the kitchen looking for his breakfast, whilst Hercule had trudged in, just wanting a cup of coffee to start his day.

She came back down the stairs to the kitchen were everyone else was sitting;

"Hey sweet pea, ready to get back to working on this house" her father asked.

"Actually dad, I need to drop Gohan off…somewhere, then I need to take that jet back to Bulma" she said apologetically.

"Oh, ok, um, I guess I'll try to get on with the building myself then" replied Hercule.

"You probably should wait until we get back" said Gohan, "some of the things that need to be done require at least two people in order to complete" he finished.

"Ok, I guess I'll just….relax for today" said Hercule.

"Ok daddy, we'll try not to be too long" said Videl.

"Ready to go Gohan?" she asked.

"Wait!" screamed Goten.

"What is it Goten?" asked a puzzled Gohan.

"You're going over to Trunks house, right? I wanna come too!" squealed the pint size Saiyan.

Gohan looked at his mother waiting for the all clear to take Goten with them.

"Sure, it's been a while since he's seen his best friend" said Chichi.

"Alright, let's go squirt" said Gohan.

"Yay" shouted an excited Goten.

Videl just smiled and chuckled to herself, remembering what it was like being that young and full of energy.

The three of them said goodbye and exited the house. Videl threw the capsule with the jet in to some open space and the prototype appeared in front of them, which they all clambered in to.

Soon, they were off, firstly to drop Gohan off at Krillin's so that he could talk to him and then off to Capsule Corp to drop off Goten and the jet.

Goten and Gohan were both bored within 15 minutes of setting off, due to the slow speed that the jet was going, compared to what they were used to of course. Goten had started napping he was that bored, Gohan was quite happy to follow suit when Videl piped up;

"So, Gohan…" she started.

Gohan turned his attention to the young woman, having perked up a bit when he realised that she had begun to speak, and now, waiting for her to continue;

"I was wondering if we could talk?" she asked.

"Sure, what about?" he asked her.

"Just about...stuff. I realised last night that, I don't really know a great deal about you and, right now, you're kinda like my only friend out here so, I thought, I should get to know you more" she said.

"Oh, ok, sure, what would you like to know" he said, realising that he would have to be careful about some of his stories and answers as he wasn't ready to tell her everything that he thought she should know about.

"Well, when we first arrived at your house, me and dad were sitting in the kitchen with Chichi and Goten, and then you arrived. Just before you arrived, Chichi mentioned she had a son, which of course is you, but that she also had a husband. Gohan, I haven't seen your dad anywhere, where is he?" she asked him curiously.

"Oh…well, I…don't normally talk about him. You see…he's no longer with us" Gohan was hesitantly trying to say.

"Oh! Sorry, forget I asked" she said, now wishing the ground would open up and swallow her whole.

"It's ok, it's been seven years since it happened. In fact, he was one of Cell's victims" he said.

"Really? Gosh, I'm sorry" she said apologetically.

"It's alright, I've learned to live with it, although I did get some wicked bad nightmares for quite some time" he explained as a shiver went down his spine thinking about them.

"That must have been horrible. Let's change the subject, shall we?" she asked, trying to steer clear of bringing up his father.

"Ok, do you have any other questions to ask?" he replied.

"Umm…oh, ok, you said you were trained in martial arts, right?" she asked.

"Yeah?" he replied quizzically.

"Who taught you and what style are you trained in?" she asked, hoping for a more detailed answer.

"Well…I know I said I didn't want to talk about this before, but, I guess I can tell you some things" he started, "I was first trained by a man named Piccolo".

"Wait! Like, the old demon king, Piccolo?" she asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"Not exactly but, a relation of sorts" he replied, trying to keep that part vague for the moment.

"Ok…go on" she asked quizzically by the vague answer.

"Anyway, I trained with him for about a year and then had a bit of a gap before going back to training with him and…my…dad" he said hesitantly.

Videl's face had shown frustration, she had tried to steer the subject away from his dad, only for it to circle back around. Gohan however, didn't dwell on it too much, he continued telling her the story so as to not get lost in his own thoughts;

"After that, there was another, albeit brief, gap and then me and my father went back to training. I probably spent more time training with him and that's when I learned the Turtle style which he learned from the Turtle Hermit" he explained.

"Turtle Hermit? I've heard of him, what was his name again? Urgh, that's gonna bug me, he's meant to be one of the strongest, if not the strongest martial artist who's ever lived" said a frustrated Videl.

"Master Roshi" said Gohan, providing her with the answer.

"Ah, yeah, that's right, he's a previous Worlds Martial Arts Champion too" she said excitedly, now remembering a bit more about him.

"Yeah, he's the one who trained my dad and I've been fortunate enough to pick up a few things from him as well" he went on to say.

"Wow, that's awesome, I bet you're no pushover in a fight then, are you?" she asked with intrigue.

"Well, I would like to believe so but, it's been a long time since I've had to go all out in a fight" he said, rubbing the back of his head.

Videl was glad that she had asked him about how he learned martial arts, she was wondering about maybe asking him to spar some time.

The rest of the trip was met with relative silence until they reached a tiny island in the middle of nowhere.

"Is this it Gohan?" she asked.

"Yeah, my friend Krillin lives here with his wife and daughter" he replied.

"It's so out of the way and…secluded. It looks rather peaceful" she said as a warm feeling came over her at the thought of just relaxing on the tiny island.

"Yeah, it's great to just get away from everything sometimes" he replied once more.

Videl brought the jet to the ground but did not stop the engine. Gohan said his goodbyes to Videl and Goten who had only woken up a few minutes earlier before the jet took back off, this time, in the direction of West City.

Gohan waved to the jet as it disappeared in to the sky, then he turned around to the only structure on the island, Kame House. There, a short, elderly, bald headed man, with a turtle shell on his back and a pair of red rimmed, pitch black sunglasses stood;

"Hey Gohan, it's been a while, what brings you here?" Master Roshi asked.

"Master Roshi, it's great to see you. How have you been?" Gohan asked.

"Just fine, just fine. You know me, practising my exercises and watching my soaps" replied the turtle hermit.

"You mean having nosebleeds every five minutes, don't you Master" came Krillin's voice from behind Roshi as the old hermit flinched and went red at the accusation.

"Hey Krillin" shouted Gohan to his friend.

"Hey Gohan, glad you could make it. C'mon inside" motioned Krillin, pointing at the house.

The three men walked back inside the house. There, Gohan was assaulted by a small blonde-haired girl who was no more than 4 or 5 years old;

"Hiya Gohan" said an excited Marron.

"Hello Marron, it's good to see you again" he replied with a smile across his face.

"Hey Gohan" said the little girl's mother, sitting on the sofa.

"Hey 18, it's good to see you as well" he said.

"So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" Krillin asked.

"Well, remember when I told you that Mr Satan and his daughter were staying with us?" he asked pensively as he made his way to the sofa to take a seat.

"Oh boy do I, the second you were off the phone I told 18 and we couldn't stop laughing, only you could get yourself in to such a pickle" said Krillin, trying to stifle a laugh.

"I don't see how it's funny but, alright. Anyway, I was talking to my mom and thought that, it might be an idea that we told them about ourselves and the Cell games" Gohan said with a bit more of a serious note.

Krillin, 18 and Roshi all looked a bit more serious now;

"Really?" Krillin asked, eyeing up Gohan in confusion.

"Yeah, I feel a bit guilty for their current predicament, after all, if he hadn't taken the credit, none of this would be happening to them just now" explained Gohan.

"Well maybe the oaf shouldn't have taken the credit then" replied 18.

"So? What? You're just gonna bare everything to them and just tell them that we possibly screwed them over?" asked Krillin, now more confused.

"Not exactly, I was going to ask you on the phone but, I noticed Videl's energy was on the move at the time and didn't want to risk divulging details too early" he explained.

"Okay, so what then?" Krillin asked, getting a little bit impatient now.

"Well, I thought that, maybe, if we taught them about energy control and flying, that they might be a bit more receptive to the whole explanation. And that's why I'm here, I was hoping that you could help train them Krillin" Gohan asked the balk monk.

"Me? Train them! But why? Surely you could train them or, better yet, Master Roshi?" Krillin said in a surprised tone.

"Well, I did think about training them myself but, I think it would have more impact if it came from someone who was a renown and respected martial artist" Gohan explained.

"And, if it were Master Roshi, I think Videl would hit him harder than anything he's been hit by before if he got up to any of his dirty tricks" said Gohan light heartedly.

"Hey, you lot all think of me poorly" said Roshi, defending himself.

The rest of the room lit up with laughter at the old hermit's poor attempt at defending his honour.

"So, what do you say Krillin, will you do it?" Gohan asked his friend.

"I dunno, let me check with the boss" said Krillin, as he turned to his wife, who just shrugged her shoulders before responding.

"It's your choice" she said.

"Okay, fine, I'll do it. It might be good to do some training. I haven't been through the paces in quite some time" admitted Krillin.

"Thank you Krillin" said a smiling Gohan.

They sat in the small house for some time just catching up, with talk of Bulma having a dinner party in the not too distant future being one of the main topics of focus.


	7. Chapter 7: A Small Dose of Reality

Thank you for the reviews, whenever someone says they like what I've written or even go on to say that it is far surpassing something else, I'm honestly very flattered. I've never considered myself good at writing so the fact that so many people read these and review them is just awesome.

So thanks :)

Chapter 8 has been fully written and I need to get a start on Chapter 9 as the time between updates will definitely increase going forward so I'm going to apologise in advance.

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT or Dragonball Super, any of it's film adaptations or the manga.

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Videl and Goten left Gohan on the small island and made their way towards West City so that Videl could drop off the jet and Goten could go play with Trunks. They were part of the way there when Videl's curiosity peaked its ugly head;

"Say, Goten" said Videl.

"Hmmm" replied the young boy.

"Who exactly is this 'Krillin' that your brother wants to go see?" she asked.

"Oh, he's been friends with my dad ever since they were little kids" he replied.

"I see, so why does Gohan need to go see him?" she asked.

"I don't know, he never told me why he was going" replied Goten.

"Huh, suppose I'll just ask him later" she replied.

The two of them stayed in relative silence for the rest of the trip until the Capsule Corp building was in eyesight;

"Yeah, we're almost there, I can't wait to see Trunks" shouted Goten who was now jumping up and down excitedly.

Videl just laughed at the young boy who was itching to see his best friend.

After a few more minutes, the jet landed within the grounds of Capsule Corp and the two occupants leapt down on to the ground. Videl pressed the button to capsulize it once more and they both made their way towards the front door. Once inside the reception area, Videl made her way to the desk where a young woman not much older than Videl sat;

"Excuse me, I'm here to see Bulma" said Videl.

"Ok, can I have your name please?" asked the young woman.

"It's Videl" she replied.

"Ok, just wait one moment while I call her" said the young woman as she picked up a phone and dialled a few numbers.

Whilst Videl was waiting, she heard the screeching of the young boy behind her;

"Truuuuuuuuuunks" screamed Goten as his best friend, the lavender haired boy, appeared from a hallway. However, he wasn't alone, as a short man with flame like hair, wearing a blue spandex suit and what appeared to be armour adorning his chest, with white gloves and boots to match, was walking behind him;

"Boy, how many times have I told you about that racket that is your voice" said Vegeta, directing his comment towards Goten.

"Oh, sorry Mr. Vegeta sir, I was just excited" said Goten, with a trademark Son grin on his face.

Vegeta then turned his sight towards Videl, eyeing the young woman with curiosity;

"And who the hell are you?" grunted Vegeta.

Videl was taken slightly aback by the rudeness of the man, however, she was also slightly relieved, he didn't seem to recognise her and knowing what her father did…he was still a bit of an ass all the same;

"My…my name is Videl. I'm just here to return a jet that Bulma gave to me until mine was ready" she replied.

"I see, and how do you know this brat?" he asked, motioning towards Goten.

"Well, me and my dad are kinda staying at his house with his mom and his brother" she replied.

Vegeta just looked at her for a moment, saying nothing before turning away and heading back down the hallway.

_'Man, he's a bit of a strange character'_ Videl thought.

"Hey Goten, who's this?" asked Trunks as he pointed at Videl.

"Oh, this is Videl, her and her dad are staying with us, she's a friend of Gohan's from school" replied the youngest Saiyan.

"Nice to meet you" said Videl.

"Hey" replied Trunks, holding his hand up in an uninterested waving fashion.

Videl was surprised at the young boy's reaction, usually kids were rather shy when they spoke to someone they didn't know, but this boy, acted like he just didn't care.

"Hey Videl" came a voice down the hallway as Bulma walked in to the reception area.

"Hey Bulma, I just came to return your jet" said Videl.

"Oh, great, what did you think? Did it give you any problems?" asked Bulma.

"No, no problems that I could see. It was awesome, it's the fastest thing I've ever flown…to be honest…I didn't want to push it all the way" admitted Videl.

"That's alright, there are still a few more test runs to go anyway so someone will push it to its limit" replied the blue haired woman.

Bulma then pocketed the capsule in one of her lab coats pockets and removed another capsule from a different pocket.

"Here you go, your jet-copter's had its fluids changed, filters replaced and even been valeted, it's as good as new and all filled up, ready to go" said Bulma as she smiled at Videl.

"Wow…thank you Bulma…I don't know what to say" replied Videl.

"You don't need to say anything, just make sure you come to the party we're having, we'll be having it this weekend, so that gives you…four days to prepare" said Bulma.

"Prepare? Prepare for what? It's only a dinner party" said Videl, eyeing the older woman curiously.

"Oh…nothing, anyway I've gotta go, got a company to run after all" said Bulma, as she waved at Videl and Goten and made her way back to her lab.

"Well, I guess we'll be heading then won't we Goten?" she asked the young boy.

"Aww, but why, can't I stay here for a while? Nimbus can take me home later" said the young boy, now starting to pout.

"Nimbus? What's a nimbus?" asked Videl.

Trunks, realising his younger friend's mistake, slapped a hand over Goten's mouth and piped up;

"It's uh…just the name of…one of our…butlers, yeah, he's called nimbus and he makes sure that we get where we're supposed to go" he said, putting on a grin of his own, akin to that of the famous Son grin.

"Uh huh" was Videls reply. She didn't quite believe that the lavender haired boy was telling the truth, however, she didn't have anything to the contrary either so for the moment she just went with it.

"In any case, I don't think your mom would be happy if I just left you here and returned home with only one of her sons. Tell you what though, why don't you phone your mom and see if you're allowed to stay here for the night, that way you can play and I can head back and pick up Gohan" suggested Videl.

"Oh, that's a great idea, thank you Videl" said Goten, swelling up with excitement as he ran over to Videl and wrapped his small arms and hands around Videl's leg.

Videl was slightly taken aback as she wasn't used to dealing with children, did the only thing she could think…she hugged the young boy, a smile growing on her face.

After that brief moment, Goten and Trunks ran off to the phone which was located down the hallway slightly and Videl followed them to find out Chichi's answer. Trunks had to dial as Goten didn't know what his home number was. After a few minutes of dialling and a back and forth conversation with his mother, Goten was given the all clear to stay at the Briefs house for the night.

"Alright boys I'll be off then, I'll see you later" she said to both kids.

"Bye Videl" they both replied in unison.

Videl left the building and threw the capsule on to the ground revealing her own jet-copter which she was glad to see again, but also slightly sad realising that the jet she had just given back was far superior to her own. She hopped in, did all her checks and then took off heading back to the small island where she had left Gohan a little while earlier.

* * *

"So Gohan, what do you expect to get out of training them and telling them about the Cell games?" asked Krillin.

"Well, they've been through a lot the last few weeks and I feel a bit guilty, after all we're the ones who really went up against Cell and defeated him then left which allowed him to take all the credit. If we didn't let that happen then they'd not be in this situation right now" explained Gohan.

"Oh, is that why? I thought maybe you just had a soft spot for his daughter, if you know what I mean *wink wink*" said Krillin mischievously.

"What? No! It's not like that, Videl and I are just friends" stuttered a panicked Gohan.

"Suuuure you are. So, will she be your plus one at Bulma's party?" said Krillin with a playful smirk on his face.

"Well, Bulma already invited her and her father to come along, as well as our other friend Erasa" said Gohan, trying to deflect the comment.

"Oh, two girls! My my Gohan, you have been a busy boy haven't you?" said Krillin, beaming at the sight of an embarrassed Saiyan.

"KRILLIN!" screamed Gohan, as his face lit up red with embarrassment.

"TWO GIRLS! Just what Roshi needs to light a fire in his belly" blurted out the old hermit, as blood began to stream from his nose like a broken faucet.

"MASTER ROSHI!" Gohan again screamed.

Just then, both Master Roshi and Krillin felt sharp jabs to the backs of both their heads;

"Leave poor Gohan alone" said 18.

"Aww, but it's not often that you get one up on a Saiyan you know" said Krillin, rubbing his head where his wife had hit him.

"True, but Gohan is too nice of a boy to be thinking like the rest of you pig-headed men, so leave him alone" said 18, drilling a hole through the back of Krillin's head.

"Oh, alright" said a defeated Krillin

Gohan had begun to chuckle at this, knowing that his old friend would never win this battle. A while had passed, drinks were had and childish games were played with…the child, Marron. All in all, it had been a good visit, until both Krillin and Gohan had felt an energy moving towards them;

"That's Videl coming towards us, she shouldn't be too long" said Gohan.

And he was right, it wasn't too long before the raven-haired girl arrived back at the island in her own vehicle and set down. She leapt down and headed over to Gohan who, along with Krillin, 18, Marron and Roshi, had come out of the small house to greet her;

"Hey Videl, welcome back, here I want you to meet my friends" said Gohan, motioning for Videl to join them.

"This is Krillin, he and my dad have been friends ever since they were kids" said Gohan.

"A pleasure to meet you" said Krillin. Videl gasped;

"Wait! I recognise you! You used to compete in the Worlds Martial Arts Tournament years ago" exclaimed Videl.

"Wow, you know about that? To tell you the truth, I didn't think anyone remembered, it's nice to get some recognition" smiled Krillin.

"And this is his wife, 18 and their daughter, Marron" continued Gohan.

"A pleasure" said 18, keeping it short and sweet.

"Hi" said the young blonde girl.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you both" said Videl smiling and waving at them.

"And this, is Master Roshi. He also trained Krillin alongside my dad" said Gohan.

Again, Videl gasped;

"Master Roshi! It's an honour to meet you sir, I've heard so many stories about you" said Videl, about to fangirl all over the hermit.

"Hehe, you're right Krillin, it is nice to be recognised every once in a while" said Roshi as he too, was grinning.

"So Videl, will you be going to Bulma's party?" asked Krillin slyly.

"Yeah, it would be nice to meet all of Gohan's friends and family. I'm not exactly sure what their reaction is going to be though, considering…well, you know…my father and what he's done…or rather not done" said Videl, saddening at the thought.

"Hey don't sweat it we're not gonna judge, we knew the big idiot didn't defeat Cell" said Krillin cheerily.

Once again, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head as his wife once more met it with the palm of her hand;

"What do you mean, you knew?" asked Videl.

"Ugh…well, what I meant was…we just suspected that…it wasn't him to beat Cell, c-considering all those people who were there that day" said Krillin, hoping that the lie was enough to get out of the giant hole he had just dug himself in to.

"Sure" said Videl, being blunt with her answer.

Gohan, noticing how Videl was beginning to retreat back to her former persona, when she was all cold and meticulous, decided to steer the conversation away quickly before somebody (Krillin) let something slip;

"Videl here is an excellent fighter, she won the junior division of the Worlds Martial Arts Tournament last time around and until recently, she worked with the Satan City Police Department helping them to fight crime" boasted Gohan.

Videl was a bit surprised herself, she knew Gohan was always nice to her normally but she'd never heard him openly praise her accomplishments.

"Really? Wow, you must be good to be on the force at such a young age. That just means there's plenty of room for improvement too" said Krillin.

"Improvement? What do you mean? I'm a perfectly capable fighter" said Videl, getting a bit flustered by the accusation that she needed to improve.

"Well there's no denying that you are capable but every fighter, no matter how strong and experienced they are, can learn a thing or two" explained Krillin.

"Really? Why don't you put your money where your mouth is then?" said Videl, with a grin across her face.

"You wanna go? Like, right now?" exclaimed Krillin.

"Uh huh, what? Don't think I'll be a pushover just cause I'm a girl" said Videl sternly.

Krillin then looked around at both 18 and Gohan, looking like some kind of deer caught in the headlights looking for a way out of this. Gohan just shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what to do. 18 just rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders too;

"If she wants to win so badly, then go ahead and just show her where she needs to improve" said 18. Videl glared over at the woman, unhappy that she was agreeing with Krillin's original statement.

"Alright fine I'll do it, but don't blame me when you lose" said Krillin.

"Alright, let's go" said Videl, as she and Krillin moved over to the side a few feet.

Videl took her stance, the same one her father used and prepared herself to charge in. Krillin didn't even take a stance, in fact, he didn't even take his hands out of his pockets;

"Hey, aren't you going to take a stance?" asked Videl.

"No, there's no need to" said Krillin, calmly. This only infuriated Videl.

"Fine, your funeral" she said as she launched herself towards the short man.

Videl took off and got close to Krillin, before shifting her weight on to her left foot as she brought up her right foot up for a roundhouse kick, aimed straight at Krillin's head. Videl believed herself to be quick enough that she wasn't expecting him to be able to dodge, in fact, it didn't look like he was even going to block the attack. Actually, his eyes weren't even open, was he even taking this seriously?

As Videl's foot neared its target, the short man suddenly disappeared and Videl spun around on her left foot to try and regain balance, however, before her right foot even touched back to the ground she felt something press against the back of her left knee. She didn't feel any pain when it hit her and it barely even registered but her knee suddenly gave way once she felt this and the teenager was brought to her knees.

As she put her hands on the ground to brace her fall, she felt something on her left hand. Looking up she could see a foot was planted firmly on her hand, realising that the man was merely making a point about the improvements that could be made and that he had no need to inflict any pain upon her;

"How? How did you do that?" she asked.

"Training and lots of it" smiled Krillin.

"Actually Videl, that's the reason why I came all the way out here. I was hoping that, seeing as you and your dad can't really train the way you used to, that Krillin would be willing to train both of you" Gohan explained.

"Really?" said Videl, feeling surprise and now embarrassment for her earlier behaviour.

"Yeah and I'm happy to train you, plus I already said to Gohan I would. Seeing your movements, you're definitely a lot better than most "martial artists" are these days but like I said, there's always room for improvement" said Krillin.

"You…you asked him if…he would train us" said Videl, looking towards Gohan. Something clicked in her chest at that moment, unsure of what it was, Videl started to feel…wanted? Since leaving her home, Videl hadn't once felt needed or wanted anywhere she had travelled, so she was elated when she heard that someone with the stature of a fighter such as Krillin was willing to train her.

And that in turn fuelled her likeness for Gohan who had gone out of his way to be nice to her when she had basically disrespected one of his oldest friends. She felt a bit ashamed, not only at her swift loss but doing it in front of the man's family no less.

"Of course," came Gohan's reply.

"I would train you and your dad but for one, I don't think he'd listen to me and two, I just think that you and your dad would give Krillin some proper respect in training" he continued to say.

"What do you mean proper respect? Do you think that I don't respect you?" said Videl, now looking up at the teenaged Saiyan with a bit of hurt in her eyes.

"No no no, not at all, I just meant that you might take it more seriously if it were with a respected fighter like Krillin, after all he's been in tournaments and has some credit to his name. As for me, well I've never entered any tournaments and nobody knows who I am" Gohan pointed out.

"Oh, ok" said Videl, the hurt slightly subdued in her eyes but not quite gone. Gohan had noticed this and decided that they should maybe head back home;

"Anyway, I'd love to stay and chat you guys but we've got to head back home, there's a lot of work to be done on building them a house" said Gohan.

"Alright, maybe we'll come by and lend a hand one day. Now Videl, you and your dad should come by tomorrow morning and we'll get started" said Krillin.

"Sure" said Videl.

As they all said their goodbyes, Videl threw out the capsule with her copter in it and both she and Gohan climbed back aboard before taking back off towards the 439-mountain area.

* * *

The pair had been in the air for about fifteen minutes before Videl engaged the autopilot and turned towards Gohan with a serious, yet saddened expression;

"Gohan" she said calmly, "do you really think that I don't respect you?" she asked.

"What? No, of course not, I simply meant that I didn't think you would like to take advice from myself, considering that I'm your friend, rather than a sensei" explained Gohan.

"Oh…good then" said Videl as a smile broke out on to her face.

"Just so you know Gohan, I can't really afford to lose you as a friend, you've…always been so nice to me, I don't really know what I'd do without you right now" said Videl, smiling at the young man.

There it was again, something felt like it tugged on her heart, Videl was still confused by this and decided to ignore it.

"Aww Videl, that's such a nice thing to say, I'm glad you're my friend too" he said, smiling back at the girl.

There was a brief moment where both teenagers were awkwardly just sitting there, staring and smiling at each other, before Videl broke the silence;

"So, Gohan, I wanted to ask you some things" she said.

"Oh, ok, what's up?" he said.

"Well, the other night, when I was in bed trying to sleep, I realised how awful I was to you in school and I wanted to make it up to you, so I decided that I want to get to know you more and be a proper friend to you, not just someone who tolerated you for the sake of my friends" she said.

"Oh gosh, that's nice Videl, to tell you the truth it would be nice to get to know you better too" he admitted.

Videl blushed slightly at this, after all, it wasn't often that a guy, or anyone, for that matter, was interested in finding out about her, normally it was going through her to get to her father, either for the fame or recognition. This was something foreign to her. Pushing that aside, Videl moved on to other questions.

"Great, there's still other things I want to ask you" she said.

"Ok, go on" he said.

"Well, um…what kind of music do you like to listen to?" she asked.

"I'm not really much of a music lover, I just listen to whatever's on the radio" he replied.

"Okay, what about travelling? Have you travelled anywhere nice, other than West City and that small island of course?" she asked.

"Well, I've certainly done some travelling but most of that was when I was younger and I don't really remember the names of the places I've been" he replied, knowing he couldn't say anything about Namek, the other places mostly just being out in the wilderness which could have been anywhere as far as he was concerned.

"That must suck" she said.

"Not really, I don't think about it like that, I just look forward to the next place I go" he replied.

Videl pondered that for a moment, intrigued by his point of view;

"I wish I had your outlook on things, whenever I think of where I'll go next it feels like there's a pit in my stomach, afraid of what'll happen next. That's not something that…I'm used to or like. I used to go out, unafraid of what was going to happen" she said, remembering some of the awful times she and her father spent travelling recently.

"Hey, don't worry, soon you'll have your own place again and you'll be able to relax without worrying about those things" he said, looking to reassure her.

"You're right Gohan, thanks" she said, smiling at him, his words filling her with confidence about the future.

The two teens sat in relative silence for the majority of the trip. Videl caught up in her own thoughts of the future, some thoughts of a still bleak outlook, other filled with hope and some, filled with romance, although those were few and far between as it was never a driving factor for Videl.

Gohan, on the other hand had his own thoughts, of which they were mostly about food. Although, his mind did dwell on other thoughts such as getting Videl and Hercule back on their feet, making sure his friend was safe and allow her to regain her confidence. That was how he seen Videl, a strong, confident, loyal and trustworthy young woman. His mind did wander elsewhere though, he turned to steal a glance at Videl who was just staring out of the window of the jet-copter apparently lost in her own thoughts at that moment.

He couldn't help but stare at her for a moment captivated by her now shorter raven hair, now only shoulder length and deep blue eyes and fair skin, her lips, rosy and her figure, though slim was rather athletic due in no small part to her years of martial arts training. Videl had caught Gohan staring out of the corner of her eye and turned to meet his gaze;

"What's wrong Gohan? Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked, quizzingly.

Gohan, only realising that Videl was now talking to him, had to think fast;

"Oh, nothing, I was uh…just…wondering what you were thinking about, hehe" he replied whilst blushing. He wasn't exactly lying, he was also wondering what Videl was thinking as she was wrapped up in her own thoughts, he just wasn't going to tell Videl what else he was thinking.

"Oh, well I…had…something else…to ask you" she replied. She too was thinking about something else, mainly how most of her thoughts kept circling back to Gohan but just like him, she wasn't about to tell him that.

"Oh, ok, what is it?" he then asked.

"Well, it's about what Krillin said. He said _'we knew the big idiot didn't defeat Cell'_, I know he meant something more by it but I can't figure out what. Gohan, does he know something about the day that Cell was defeated?" she asked in a more serious tone, just like she would not only a month or so ago with that invading curiosity.

"And he said 'we', who's we?" she continued.

Gohan was taken aback, he wasn't expecting this type of a question, based on the line of questioning they had been on previously;

"Well…there's…a story behind that but, I don't feel that right now is the time to tell it" he replied, knowing that he was going to tell her in the (hopefully) not too distant future, he just didn't want to rush in to things and complicate the whole matter.

"And why not?" her expression now turning to a frown, "If there's anything you know about me Gohan, it's that I don't like people keeping secrets, or liars" she said sternly.

"I know, I know and I promise, you'll find out exactly what that story is but, there are certain…factors involved which…makes it complicated to tell you, at least right now but don't worry, I promise you'll have all the answers" he stammered out.

"Oh yeah, when?" she said, abruptly.

"Soon, around the time of Bulma's party hopefully" he replied.

Videl did the math and figured that it was only until the end of the week, she could last that long. After all, Gohan had never given her a reason to doubt his actions, he always did what he said he would do and never went back on his word, she trusted him enough for this.

"Alright, I'll wait but you promise me that you'll tell me the whole story and not leave anything out" she said.

"I do, I'll absolutely tell you everything" said a nervous Gohan.

"Pinkie promise?" she asked.

"Yeah fine, pinkie promise" he replied.

They both held out a hand each and wrapped their pinkie finger around the others. Upon doing this, Videl and Gohan both felt something, strange, like a spark of electricity suddenly shooting through them. Both their hearts started beating a little faster, each with a warming sensation taking over them for a moment before Videl piped up again;

"C'mon, we're nearly home, I'm gonna turn the autopilot off for landing" she said.

The two teens were approaching the clearing as Videl turned off the autopilot and manually guided them home. After another few minutes, the jet-copter touched down a short way away from the house. Both Gohan and Videl jumped from the aircraft and Videl capsulized it.

They made their way in to the home where Gohan announced their return;

"Mom, we're home" he shouted as he opened the front door.

"Oh, hi kids, how was your trip?" asked Chichi as she stepped out from the kitchen, drying a plate in her hands.

"It was great, Krillin agreed to train them" he replied.

"That's wonderful" replied Chichi.

"What's wonderful?" asked Hercule as he made his way out from the sitting room.

"Daddy, great news, Gohan asked his friend Krillin if he would train us, you know, somewhere where we could go and train in peace" beamed Videl.

"Really, well that's great. Thank you Gohan, I don't know what to say" said a humble Hercule.

"It was nothing, I just figured what with building the house and the amount of time you guys have been travelling that training was probably one of the last things on your mind" explained Gohan.

"Yeah, it really was the furthest thing on our minds wasn't it" said Hercule, not really directing the comment at anyone.

"Well now that we're all here, I'm going to start making dinner, who's hungry?" asked Chichi.

"Me!" was the response heard around the room.

After a short while, dinner had been prepared and laid out on the kitchen table where the four of them ate. After dinner they all made their way back in to the sitting room;

"So Gohan, what kind of training do you think we'll be doing? We're not exactly beginners after all" asked Hercule.

"To tell you the truth, I'm not sure what Krillin's got planned for you but if it's anything like the training that he and my dad had been through, it's not gonna be easy" admitted Gohan.

"It can't be that hard, right?" asked Videl.

"All I can say for certain is that you've never trained like it before" Gohan giggled.

Videl and Hercule just looked at each other then back towards Gohan.

"Alright you lot it's getting late and you've got a long day ahead of you, off to bed, go on now" said Chichi.

"Sure mom" said Gohan.

"Ok, good night Chichi" said Videl as both she and Gohan made their way upstairs.

"Good night Chichi" said Hercule as he made set himself up on the couch.

* * *

Gohan lay in bed, a smile adoring his face. He felt great at what he had done to try and help his friend and her father;

"This is gonna be great, I can't wait until she finds that confidence in herself again" he said aloud to himself as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

Videl too, lay in bed, trying to contain how happy she was at the incredibly wonderful gesture that Gohan had done, seeking out someone to help them train and stay in shape. Nobody had ever actually wanted to help her train, in fact, it was always the other way around, or again, people would only be using Videl to want to train with her father. Gohan however, was something different, he never tried to use Videl to get what he wanted, he seemed to genuinely have her best interests at heart.

"Oh Gohan, you're so...so…special" she said to herself, letting warm thoughts of Gohan envelope her mind as she too, drifted off to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8: Pain on all Fronts

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT or Dragonball Super, any of it's film adaptations or the manga.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

The next day, Gohan, Videl and Hercule were all up early to travel to the island and begin training. Gohan made sure to be prepared for the day. He packed a bag with bottles of water for each of them, as well as towels to dry up any sweat (which he thought there had ought to be a lot).

Videl prepared by making sure she had a change of clothes with her as there was nothing worse than a good workout and then having to be stuck in the same sweaty, clingy clothes for the journey home.

Hercule had simply put on his trademark brown gi and white pants that he was so fond of. He also chose to shave as his beard had grown ridiculously since he hadn't had a chance to shave the last few weeks. Thankfully, Gohan had picked up some stuff to allow him to shave the last time he went to pick up groceries.

The three of them had breakfast and thanked Chichi for her amazing cooking skills. Videl had made a mental note to ask Chichi at some point for cooking tips. She could cook but was nowhere near the level that Chichi made food and she felt that she was probably going to be doing most of the cooking once her and her dad had their own home.

After breakfast, they headed outside where Videl decapsulated her jet-copter.

"I don't think we can all fit in there Videl" pointed out Hercule.

"What are you talking about? Me, Erasa and Chichi all managed to fit in there" replied Videl.

"Yeah but, no offense sweetie, you're all skinny little things compared to me" he replied.

Videl only glared for a moment, she knew what her father meant, however she never liked being called thin or skinny or stick like. She had muscle compared to most other girls, it never really showed due to her baggy clothing.

"Don't worry about me guys, I've got my own ride" said Gohan.

Videl and Hercule looked around, puzzled at Gohan's statement as they hadn't seen any jets or cars or bikes of any kind since they got there.

"I'm confused, what exactly are you gonna ride in to get there?" asked Hercule.

Gohan just flashed a grin towards the pair and turned away from them, cupping both his hands to his mouth and yelled out;

"NIMBUS!"

Both Hercule and Videl looked at him, wondering why he was acting so strange, when something caught their eye. Descending from the sky, was a golden ball of fluff which, the closer it got, the more it looked like a cloud. Upon its arrival, they both got a good look at the object that came out of the sky and realised, that it was indeed, a cloud.

"Eh…Gohan, what exactly is that thing?" asked a confused Videl.

"This is Nimbus. It's a magic cloud that my dad passed on to me years ago" replied Gohan.

Both of the Satans just stared at him, minds equally blown;

"Riiiiiiiiiiiggghhhttttt…" said Videl.

"No really, watch" said Gohan, as he hopped atop the magic cloud.

"Nimbus, go up" he commanded, and the little cream cloud steadily levitated upwards.

"Ok Nimbus, now down" he once again commanded and sure enough, the cloud descended downwards and stopped just short of the ground.

"That's amazing. Do you think…I could try, maybe?" asked Hercule.

"Sure, but I have to warn you, not everyone can ride on Nimbus" replied Gohan.

"Oh, I'm sure I'll be fine" said Hercule as he approached the cloud and Gohan climbed off.

Hercule inspected the cloud for a moment before squatting down, followed by leaping in to the air above the cloud. His aim was perfect, right on top of the cloud, followed swiftly by his descent to the ground below.

Gohan looked on, unsurprised by the spectacle in front of him. His eyes were torn from the scene in front of him, as he heard an uncontrollable giggle emanating from the young woman. Videl was in a fit, she couldn't stop laughing at her father, so much so, that she was stifling the laughter behind one of her hands as best she could.

Gohan was now looking at her, noticing for the first time just how, disarming her laughter was, the complete opposite of what he knew to be Videls normal scowl and glare. It was a rather fresh change to see something that wasn't a scowl on her face. He also wanted to test something else whilst they had the chance.

"Hey, Videl" he called over to the girl.

"Y-y…yeah Go-Go…han?" said Videl, still trying to contain her laughter.

"Why don't you give it a try" he said.

"Me?" she asked surprisingly, also bringing the laughter to a halt.

"Yeah, I'm sure you'll do just fine" he replied.

"O…kay, sure" she replied.

After studying the cloud for a moment, Videl approached the small puff, still levitating above the ground, her father having since moved back next to where she was standing. She tentatively approached the cloud and looked it over once before climbing on to the cloud. She braced herself to hit the ground, but after a few seconds, nothing happened. Videl was sat comfortably on the cloud, amazed that she hadn't fallen through.

"See, I told you you'd be fine" said Gohan.

Videl then looked back up to the young man, and then looked back to the cloud. A smile crept up on her face, then she looked up again to Gohan, the smile even more evident now. Gohan too, was smiling back at her.

Hercule took notice of both kids, smiling at each other. He was happy that his little sweet pea had a smile on her face, and it seemed to revolve around this kid, Gohan. He was full of nice gestures and appeared to be kind and gracious, a gentleman, to say the least. It was one of the few times that Hercule had ever approved of any boys hanging around with his little sweet pea. Although, it wasn't like he had much of a choice, given the circumstances. Still, he was happy just seeing Videl smile again.

"Ok, we should get going" said Gohan.

Videl looked up at Gohan again with a slight bit of disappointment on her face. It seemed that she wanted to ride the magic cloud, but, realising that her father didn't really know how to pilot the jet-copter, she would need to do so. She dismounted the cloud and made her way back to her jet-copter.

"Ok, let's go" she said as she and Hercule both climbed aboard her jet-copter and Gohan once again, hopped on to Nimbus.

The cloud floated over to where Videls jet-copter was;

"Ok, follow me and Nimbus and we'll be there in no time" said Gohan as he sat down cross-legged on the cloud.

"Ok, ready whenever you are" said Videl as the cockpit door closed.

Gohan and Nimbus began ascending in to the sky steadily, making sure not to go too fast as they waited for Videl and Hercule to catch up a bit. Once they had caught up, he urged Nimbus to go faster until they were at a steady cruising pace for both cloud and machine.

* * *

On the way there, Hercule had wondered about the reason why he couldn't get on the cloud but Videl could;

"Hey, Videl" he called to his daughter.

"Yeah Dad?" asked Videl.

"Why do you think that cloud let you ride on it but not me?" he asked.

"Hmm, I dunno but Gohan did say that not everyone can ride on it" she replied.

"I wonder what he meant by that?" Hercule asked rhetorically.

"Beats me, why don't we ask him when we land" replied Videl.

The rest of the journey was uneventful. Gohan sat on the cloud in front of them, looking back every so often to make sure nothing had happened to the two of them. Videl would signal him with a wave or a thumbs up every time he looked to indicate that they were ok back there.

Eventually after a while, the small island came in to view and cloud and machine slowly descended until they were upon the island. Gohan jumped off Nimbus and bode it farewell before moving towards the small house and giving way for Videl to land the jet-copter.

Krillin had already came out from the house and had begun speaking to Gohan whilst Videl and Hercule were climbing out of the jet-copter;

"Seems very small, I've owned bigger dojos and gyms" stated Hercule.

"Well, it's what we're getting so get used to it" replied Videl as she capsulated the jet-copter.

Krillin, with Gohan in tow, approached the two to greet them;

"Morning Videl, nice to see you here bright and early. And you must be Mr Satan" said Krillin, offering his hand politely to shake the other mans.

"Yeah, it's nice to see you again" replied Videl.

"Nice to meet ya. No offence but, you don't seem like someone who could train us" Hercule admitted honestly.

"Dad!" cried Videl.

"Don't worry Videl, I'm sure he'll change his tune once we get started. Speaking of, I've got a basic regiment for you both to follow. It's not much right now but we'll tailor it down the line for you both" said Krillin.

"Thanks" they both replied.

"Okay, let's get started, follow me if you please" said Krillin as he motioned for them to follow him.

They walked to the other side of the island where Master Roshi was already in a sun lounger, soaking up the morning sun.

"Howdy" greeted the old turtle hermit.

Hercule was flabbergasted at the site of the old man;

"Is that…the turtle hermit, Master Roshi?" he asked.

"Yep, the one and only" came the reply from Videl.

"But I thought he was dead" exclaimed Hercule.

"Nah, still alive and kicking, hehe" said the hermit.

"Woah…oh, where are my manners. I am Hercule Satan, it's an honor to meet you sir" Hercule said, the most respectful he has probably ever been to another human.

"Thanks. Now, I believe you and young Videl are here for training, yes?" Master Roshi asked.

"Yes sir!" cried Hercule.

"Good, I won't be teaching you myself, but I might still throw in a few pointers now and then. Krillin there will get down to brass taxes with you" said the turtle hermit.

"Of course," replied Hercule.

"Great, now that introductions are out of the way, let's begin" said Krillin.

"First up, you're both going to run laps around the island…in the water" said Krillin, with a sly smirk on his face.

"What!" both Satans cried.

"That's right, about 100 should do to warm up" he said.

"100!" they both cried again.

"B-but that's insane" said Videl.

"I have to agree" said Hercule.

"Hey! You wanna get stronger? Then trust me, this is a good start for you" said Krillin sternly.

"Okay, fine, c'mon dad let's get started" said Videl making her way towards the water.

"And keep your shoes on, it'll help in the long run, trust me" Krillin said, raising his voice a little to ensure they heard him.

"Fine" they both muttered and started doing the laps in the water.

They had barely made twenty by the time Hercule was collapsing, and Videl didn't make it much further, only getting to twenty-five herself. Krillin had seen this and decided to ease up on them a bit.

"Ok, you can take a break. It seems I've overestimated your current ability, but that's fine, we'll get you up to speed in no time" said Krillin grinning wildly.

"Yeah…sure…right after…you give me…a…new set…of lungs" a winded Videl managed to spit out.

"Hehe, young whipper snappers can't keep up, eh Krillin" said a laughing Master Roshi.

"Nope but it's fine Master, they'll gain their strength, just like me and Goku did" he replied.

_'Goku, now where have I heard that before'_ thought Videl. She made a mental note to ask about it at some point, right now, she was busy gasping for air after the intense "warm up" that she and her father had just been through.

After a brief intermission, Krillin gave them their next task;

"Ok, I want you both to take it in turns to climb to the top of the tree here and then climb back down. Seeing as you both made it through roughly a quarter of the laps, let's say you only have to climb the tree twenty times" he said.

"Ok, that seems a bit more manageable" replied Hercule with Videl nodding in agreement.

* * *

And so, the day continued as such, Krillin gave them a task to do and both Satans performed it as best they could with Videl faring better than her father for the majority of each task, though neither one of them managed to complete any of the given tasks.

By the middle of the afternoon, both Videl and Hercule were completely drained of energy with barely enough to stand on their own two feet;

"I think I might honestly die today" said Videl as her legs wobbled her towards the small home.

"You ok Videl?" asked Gohan as she stumbled her way in to the house and plopped down on a chair.

"Yeah, just peachy" she replied sarcastically.

Gohan just shrugged his shoulders and made his way to the couch next to 18 who was playing with Marron. Hercule walked in at the back of them, or rather, dragged his feet across the ground in order to make it to the couch. Roshi has made his way in and sat on the floor across from the table, a little perturbed at the fact that he wasn't able to keep up with his aerobics on tv, due to the present company.

Krillin had entered the kitchen and brought out glasses of water and juice for everyone, save 18 who had a coffee instead. Krillin then turned to the two Satans;

"So, how do you think your first day went?" he asked them.

"That was the most intense work out I think I've ever done in my life. And you call that a warm-up?" replied Videl.

"Hehe, honestly Videl, just wait until you see what that kind of training will do for you" he replied.

"Yeah, if you could just let me sleep for…oh I dunno, the next 10 years, that'd be great" said Hercule.

"Aw c'mon, it's not that bad. Besides, it's only gonna get harder so I'd rest well now whilst you can" replied Krillin with a grin on his face.

"Seriously, ugh" said an exasperated Videl.

The three stayed for dinner, with Videl and Hercule eating at a slower than normal pace, due to the fatigue in their arms. Eventually, they were finished and Gohan decided that it was time for them to go home;

"Well, as fun as this has been, I think it's time that we headed home. These two need their rest before the start again tomorrow" he said.

The three of them bode farewell to Roshi, 18 and Marron, whilst Krillin accompanied them outside. Once there, Videl threw her capsule out on to the ground and her jet-copter appeared;

"I'm gonna be straight with you guys, I don't think I can fly this all the way back home. I'm struggling to stay awake as it is" Videl admitted.

"But sweet-pea, I can't fly this thing and we can't all fit in there" moaned Hercule.

"Hehe, it's fine, I can fly it" offered Krillin.

"Really? Are you sure? I wouldn't want you to make a trip all the way out there, just to come right back" said Hercule.

"No sweat, I have ways of getting back, don't you worry" replied Krillin.

"Then in that case, I'd be grateful if you could fly me home" asked Hercule.

"Sure, hop in" said Krillin.

"As much as I appreciate this Krillin, the three of us still can't fit in there" Videl pointed out.

"Don't worry Videl, I can give you a ride on Nimbus" offered Gohan.

"Are you sure? There didn't appear to be much space on that cloud" said Videl.

"Nah it'll be fine. Two people can comfortably sit atop Nimbus" explained Gohan.

"Ok fine, I'll ride with you then. See you back home Dad" said Videl, as Hercule had already climbed aboard the jet-copter and was barely awake.

The nimbus cloud was still floating above the ground from when they had arrived that morning. Gohan climbed on first and then sat cross legged on the cloud. He then helped Videl to climb on as she sat behind him;

"Ok, wrap your arms around my waste and hold on tight" said Gohan.

"Ok" said a bleary eyed Videl.

A few moments later, the jet-copter had sprung to life and took off as the cloud also began its ascent.

Only a couple of minutes had went by but Hercule was already fast asleep, much to the delight of Krillin not having to converse with the man at this time.

Videl was still awake, though she wouldn't be for much longer it would seem. Whilst she still had control over her thoughts, she decided to speak up;

"Hey Gohan!" she said over the rushing wind.

"Yeah, what's up Videl?" he asked.

"I just wanted to say…thanks" she said.

"What for?" he asked.

"For being so friendly and kind to me, I don't deserve a friend like you" she replied. Gohan's cheeks blushed ever so slightly, whilst at the same time he was a bit surprised.

"You're welcome Videl. I like you too" he replied.

"Mmmhmm…" was all he heard, as he realised that her head was resting against his back and that he could feel her breathing vibrating slightly against his back. She had fallen asleep, which was evident as her grip was starting to loosen around his waist. He gently grabbed both of her wrists and held them around his waist, ensuring that the girl didn't fall off.

Her skin felt soft and warm, despite the years of harshness that she likely put her body through. He could also feel her warmth radiating from her as she was pressed against his back. Gohan was enjoying this more than he would let on, in fact, he enjoyed it so much that he wished it would last longer than the trip back home. However, it wouldn't be comfortable for her to sleep in this position.

Gohan looked over to the side and could see Krillin peering over at them from the jet-copter. From inside the cockpit, all Gohan could see was Krillin mouth the words "love birds" with a large smirk on his face. Gohan merely groaned and furrowed his brown before mouthing back "go away".

Krillin smirked once more then pulled ahead to leave the two "love birds" alone. Gohan decided not to push the cloud further for fear of waking up Videl.

* * *

Eventually, Krillin and Hercule arrived at the Son house where Krillin had to wake Hercule to get him to go inside;

"C'mon sleepy head, time to go to an actual bed" said Krillin as he nudged Hercule.

Mr Satan woke up and groggily clambered out of the cockpit and made his way in to the house where Chichi was waiting at the front door, having heard the machine touch down.

"Hi Chichi, night Chichi" said Hercule as he walked past the Son Matriarch and touched down on the couch.

"Hey Chichi, how are ya?" asked Krillin as he approached the door way.

"Just fine Krillin. Where's Gohan?" she asked.

"Oh, he's giving Videl a lift on Nimbus. He won't be too long" he replied.

"Oh, isn't that sweet" said Chichi

"Man, he must really like her, he's already thinking about telling them about the Cell games" said Krillin.

"Yeah, it sure seems that way, although knowing my son, he probably doesn't even have a clue himself" said Chichi.

"Well, if he's anything like Goku he won't" Krillin chuckled as did Chichi.

"Anyway, I better get going, see you at Bulma's party?" he asked.

"Of course, we wouldn't miss it" she replied.

"Great, see ya then" said Krillin as he took off in to the sky and began flying home.

As he had just left and Chichi was about to walk in, she caught a glimpse of the magic cloud approaching the clearing. She decided to wait a few moments for them to touch down.

As the cloud stopped, Gohan carefully hoisted Videl on to his back to carry her and then climbed off of nimbus. He approached his home and spotted his mother at the door. She cooed at him, albeit very quietly so as not to disturb the young woman. Gohan merely rolled his eyes and continued in to the house.

He walked up the stairs and in to Goten's room and carefully and gently placed Videl on to the bed. He then made sure to take off her shoes and then her socks before placing the duvet over her. She was still fast asleep and looked very peaceful, a look seldom ever seen on the girl's face, at least to Gohan's knowledge. He liked the way she looked, not just the fact that she looked so peaceful, but also her new look, though if he were being honest, he had always liked the girl, not just physical aspects but also her determination to help others and to better herself, unwavering from her goals.

In fact, Gohan was probably starting to like this girl more, even more than he himself realised.

* * *

That night, Videl dreamt for the first time in a long time. She had dreamt that she was riding on a magic cloud, flying over the ocean, the wind in her hair, the smell of the sea breeze as they flew near the ocean and the view when they flew high.

They? Who's they? Dream Videl wondered, until she looked up to see the back of the young man with spiky black hair. He turned around to face her slightly;

"You doing ok back there Videl?" the dream Gohan asked.

"Yeah" she replied as she snuggled in to his back more and making sure her grip around his waist was secure.

She could feel the definition of his abs, though she wasn't surprised for some odd reason, in fact she was enjoying it, so much so that she could practically feel the warmth coming off of herself and a smile elicit itself on her face.

She was enjoying this…a lot, and she wanted to enjoy it some more.

Unfortunately for dream Videl, real Videl decided that it was time to wake up.

* * *

The next morning Videl woke up, tossing and turning in the bed trying to get comfy again as she didn't want to get up. She realised after a few moments that she was in bed, not remembering how she got there, the last thing she remember was getting on to the small magic cloud and taking off, after that things were a blur. She decided that she had ought to get up and get herself ready for the day ahead.

Videl swung her legs out of the bed and stood up, only to promptly fall straight back down on her butt;

_'Oh right, yesterday's training, that's why I'm having trouble standing, oh well' _thought Videl. She rose again from the bed and steadied herself and began to walk over to the dresser to get some new clothes for the day. It was a struggle, her muscles were moaning and protesting all around her body as she was performing these simple tasks.

She left the room and went to the bathroom where she was able to freshen up and have a shower and get changed. After returning to the bedroom briefly, she began to make her way down the stairs, albeit more slowly than normal before making her way in to the kitchen.

Upon entering the kitchen, she found Chichi and Gohan both already at the table;

"Good Morning Videl" said Chichi. Gohan turned around to see Videl as she took a seat at the table.

"Good Morning Chichi, Gohan" replied Videl.

"Good Morning Videl, did you sleep well last night?" asked Gohan.

"Oh my God yes! All that training yesterday had me wiped. In fact, I wanna know, how exactly did I get home and in to bed last night? The last thing I remember was getting on that cloud and then…nothing" explained Videl.

"Gohan here was kind enough to carry you up to bed last night" said Chichi with a giddy smirk on her face.

Videl began blushing at the thought of being carried by Gohan, whilst Gohan similarly blushed, although not quite as much as Videl. The girl in question then turned to face Gohan before she spoke up;

"T-thanks Gohan" she said, her blush deepening slightly.

"Y-yeah, no problem" he replied, his blush also deepening.

Goten then walked in to the room and took his seat at the table, having arrived back home from Capsule Corps the prior evening before the trio came home.

"Morning mom, morning Gohan, morning Videl" the boy sang out.

"Good Morning Goten" replied the three in chorus.

"Oh boy I'm starving" said Goten.

"Breakfast is almost ready Goten, just a little longer" replied Chichi.

"Ok mom" he replied.

"So, Videl are you ready for another day of training?" asked Gohan.

"I don't know if my body can keep up with this training" Videl replied sarcastically.

"Hehe, well if you're anything like your dad you won't, he's still fast asleep and I have no idea if he'll be waking up anytime soon" said Gohan. Said man, walked in to the kitchen not seconds later, trudging his way towards an empty seat at the table just as Chichi put the food on the table and the two-half Saiyans began to dig in;

"Oh man, I feel like I've been hit by a freight train" he grumbled.

"C'mon dad, pull yourself together, we've got more training to do today" said Videl, although she wouldn't mind giving it a skip today if she were to be honest.

"No sweetie, I don't think I do, my body is so sore today that I think I'm going to have to build it back up before I can even do the basic training that they're putting us through" replied Hercule.

"Really dad? I never thought you'd be a quitter" said Videl.

"Well, you always thought I beat Cell and look how that turned out" replied Hercule, before immediately regretting what he said and the realisation dawned on him as he looked at his daughter's awestruck face. Chichi stopped and turned around whilst both the half Saiyans stopped eating and looked at both Satans with just their eyes moving from one to the other, daring not to move an inch.

Videl looked at him wide eyed for a moment before staring a hole through his head;

"W-w-w wha-what I meant was…" Hercule started before being cut off.

"No dad, I know what you meant!" said Videl sternly before she got up and stormed off and made her way out the front door.

"Well, that was smart" said Chichi as she too now took up a stern tone with the afro haired man.

"Damn, that was a stupid thing to say Hercule" he said to himself.

* * *

Videl tried to run as soon as she left the front door but realised quickly that her legs wouldn't carry her that quickly yet so she opted to try and jog, which was working but it felt more like a power walk with how slowly she was going. She kept going for as long as she could and began running through the forest, not stopping, despite her legs protesting which they eventually wouldn't carry her any further and she collapsed on to her hands and knees. She panted for a short while, not changing position, before she realised that her face was wet, not from sweat but from tears and her vision had become blurry somewhat.

Videl didn't know why but the comment her father had made had suddenly broke through the barrier that was her emotions. When they both went on the run, Videl didn't have the time to stop and think about how she felt, she went straight in to survival mode and did what she could in order to keep them both safe. Now that they were safe, she could relax a bit more, that is until her father had to go and say something stupid.

It didn't make any sense to her why now all of a sudden that she would begin to weep about it all. It didn't stop for a while and she had ended up sitting against a tree with her knees curled up to her chest and her head pressed in to her knees as she sat there and cried for a while.

After the tears had stopped, she wiped the remaining tears from her eyes and face and started to look around, trying to figure out where she had run off too when she heard what sounded like a twig snap, except it wasn't a twig but sounded more like a whole tree. She spun around to see a gigantic dinosaur having just crushed an old tree trunk under its foot. How had it gotten so close without her noticing she wondered, though now was not the time to think, she had to get away. She tried running but her legs wouldn't carry her as she stumbled to the ground and turned back to look at the gigantic beast.

She tried to scramble backwards away from it as it moved closer towards her. Before it could approach any closer, the dinosaur stopped and appeared to be looking past Videl at something, though Videl dared not to turn around, lest the beast pounce on her when she wasn't looking.

After a moment of gazing behind her, the dinosaur tucked tail and scampered off, leaving Videl to breathe a sigh of relief. She then turned around to see what it was that had scared off the dino only to see nothing but the trees behind her.

Just as she began to stand up, she could hear a voice shouting out in the distance;

"Videl…" came the voice "Videl, can you hear me?"

She knew that voice, it was Gohan's, he must have come looking for her to make sure she was ok, the caring goofball. The voice sounded like it was getting closer until he appeared from some trees off to her side;

"Videl, there you are, are you ok?" he asked the startled girl.

Videl walked over to him without saying a word and instinctively grabbed on to his torso and hugged the life out of him before she began crying again.

Gohan, being very surprised by Videl this morning, did the only thing he could think to do and that was to return the hug by placing his arms around her back and hugging her. He allowed her to stay that way for a few minutes before they broke away and she collected herself and began to speak;

"Thank you Gohan, I don't know what came over me back in the house" she said, not looking at his face.

"Don't worry about it, are you okay?" he asked again.

She nodded her head in response, "Yeah, I just…I don't know what happened…my dad, the idiot, made that comment and suddenly, everything came rushing back…the reality of our situation…the house we've barely scratched the surface on…making a living for ourselves…not relying on your family to bail us out" Videl said, still not looking at the boy.

"Hey, c'mon now, you've both been through a lot. In fact, I'm surprised by how strong you've been through this whole ordeal, many people would have cracked a lot sooner…but you're Videl Satan, you're the toughest person I know" said Gohan with a smile on his face.

Videl finally looked up to see his face;

"Really?" she asked with surprise and intrigue on her face.

"Of course, you've faced armed thugs and criminals on a regular basis for months, maybe even years, stuck out school and kept a social life and managed to stay relatively out of the media even with your dad being who he is, never breaking a stride through it all. If you can do that, then you can bounce back from this" said a heartfelt Gohan.

Videl was surprised and shocked, nobody and she meant nobody had ever spoke of her praises so much in all her life that they didn't have an ulterior motive. It's not like Gohan needed an excuse to get near the ex-champ since he was living in Gohan's home and dating her wouldn't have the same social prowess as it once would have. No, he cared, he genuinely cared and in turn, this allowed Videl to trust the boy more, something she would never had done before.

"Gohan…thanks" she said with a warm smile on her face before hugging the boy again.

"You're welcome Videl, now how about we head back home and see if you're dad has figured out a way to say sorry yet" he replied.

"He can say sorry but he still needs to explain everything to me, we haven't had time to have that discussion since we left the city" replied Videl.

"Well, you'll need to take that up with him I suppose. Now, are you up for some training today?" he asked.

"If you don't mind, I think I'd rather take the day off, you know, try to collect myself" she replied.

"Oh, ok…well then maybe we can get Krillin to come over here and help build the house some more, after all, it's not going to build itself you know" said Gohan with a grin on his face.

"Sure, sounds like fun" she replied.

"C'mon, let's head back" he said.

"Ok" she replied as she started walking forward in front of Gohan.

Gohan began walking but then stopped for a moment and turned around and looked up in to the sky before mouthing the words 'Thank you Piccolo" and catching up with Videl again to walk back together.

* * *

Floating high in the sky above the forest was a tall, green skinned Namekian looking back down at the area where Videl and Gohan were as he had caught sight of the half Saiyan giving him his thanks;

"Hmpf…it's not my job to keep your little girlfriend safe" he said aloud, "maybe for her next lesson with Krillin, he should teach her how to dodge" he smirked before flying off in the direction of the lookout.

* * *

A/N:

I've read the latest reviews and I've taken on board some of the things that were said. I've written a good part of chapter 9, however re-reading this, I realise I may have made a mistake in a Videl/Hercule conversation so will need to give it some thought before I continue ahead with it.

Hopefully this chapter keeps you going for a bit cause I now have no more completed chapters to upload until 9 is done and honestly, I'll want 10 done before I even want to post 9 so I'll try my best.


	9. Chapter 9: Progress

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT or Dragonball Super, any of it's film adaptations or the manga.

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Videl and Gohan arrived back at the house and entered in to the kitchen to find Hercule still sitting there just looking at the kitchen table, his eyes not leaving it as the two teenagers walked back in. Goten had finished his breakfast and went to watch cartoons on tv for a while. Chichi was tidying up the kitchen when she turned around to the sound of the teenagers walking in;

"Oh Gohan, Videl you're back" she said.

"Hi Chichi, I'm sorry for my behaviour earlier" said Videl with a heartfelt apology.

"That's quite alright dear, it's a perfectly normal reaction when a big musclebound oaf decides to try and be witty" she said, glaring over at the afro-haired man. Hercule meekly looked up, ashamed of himself.

"Now, I'm going to go grocery shopping, Gohan I'll need your help" said Chichi.

"Sure thing mom" he replied, "so are you two gonna go train with Krillin today?" he then turned to ask Videl and Hercule.

"No, I think we're gonna sit here and have a little chat, aren't we DAD" Videl said, making sure to put extra emphasis on whom she was speaking to as she took a seat opposite him at the table. Hercule nodded without uttering a word.

"Ok, I'll let Krillin know what's happening then" replied Gohan as he went out in to the hallway to make a phone call.

"Goten honey, turn the tv off, we're going grocery shopping" Chichi called for her youngest.

Goten switched off the tv and joined his mother in the hallway;

"Be a dear and go fetch nimbus, would you?" she asked her son.

"Sure thing mom" replied the eager Goten, as he ran out the front door and yelled out at the top of his lungs;

"NIMBUS!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Gohan had picked up the phone and dialled Krillin's number. He waited as the phone rang a couple of times before being answered;

"Go for Kame House" answered Krillin.

"Hey Krillin, it's Gohan" replied Gohan.

"Oh hey Gohan, what's up?" he asked.

"Not much, we've er…had a bit of a setback and I don't think there'll be any training today" he replied to his older friend.

"Really? What happened?" Krillin asked.

"Well, Hercule is really struggling I think and he really wasn't up for training today, then he said something stupid to Videl and now she'd rather have a particular talk with her dad about…previous events" he explained.

"Ohhhhhh…yeah I can see why that might be a problem" replied Krillin.

"Yeah, I was thinking though, do you guys wanna come over here a little later? We're going out grocery shopping just now but I thought maybe you could help me with building the home for them?" asked Gohan.

"Sure, it's been quite a while since we've been over, would be nice for a catch-up" he said.

"Great, thanks Krillin, anyway I've gotta go see you later" replied Gohan.

"No problem, catch ya later" said Krillin as both men hung up the phone.

Krillin then turned to look over his shoulder and called back in to the living area;

"Honey, how do you fancy a trip to Mount Paozu?"

* * *

After Gohan hung up the phone, he met his mother in the hallway;

"Ok mom, I'm ready" he said.

"Good, let's go" she replied, before calling in to the kitchen "I hope you two will be ok while we're gone" she said, getting a nod of the head from Videl who hadn't once taken her eyes off her father and a meek nod from Hercule who kept looking at his daughter before averting his eyes.

As Chichi left, Gohan this time turned back to speak;

"Hey Videl?" he called.

This was the only time since she began staring down her father that she turned her head, albeit reluctantly as her head had moved first whilst her eyes hadn't left her father before she eventually trained them on Gohan;

"I hope you're ok" he said. Videl looked straight at the boy for a moment, her face still in a scowl before it let up slightly and a smile formed on her face that said 'I'm still angry but thanks for trying, it means a lot', "Thanks" she replied.

Gohan then made his way out of the house and closed the door behind them. Goten was already sitting on the magic cloud and Chichi had just finished climbing on;

"Ready Gohan?" she asked.

"Sure, I'm just gonna make myself scarce…after all, they don't know about flying yet and I don't want to take the chance that they look out the window" he replied.

"Ok but don't take too long, let's go Goten" she said.

"Ok Nimbus, let's go!" commanded Goten and the little magic cloud took off with its passengers in tow.

Gohan walked around the other side of the house, away from the kitchen windows before taking off in to the air and flying in pursuit of his brother and his mother.

* * *

Videl was still glaring daggers at her father. Hercule still couldn't look Videl in the eye. It had been a tense standoff which had been going for ten minutes since the Sons had left the home. Eventually, Videl had had enough and began;

"Well father, now that we are alone maybe you could start explaining why exactly we are in this mess…hmm?" she asked, rather demanded.

Hercule blanched, he didn't know what to say or if he could say anything. He had gotten too comfortable whilst staying with the Son family and now, his only daughter had effectively cornered him and he needed to have a good explanation or face losing her as well.

"Well…uh…sweetie, you see…" Hercule stammered.

"I'll tell you why daddy" she said sarcastically for him, "It's because _YOU_ lied!" she said pointing an accusatory finger at him.

"And what's worse, you not only lied but you've been lying for the last seven years to everyone, including me!" she continued, barely blinking whilst seething with anger.

"I can't stand liars…but YOU! I can't believe my own father couldn't trust me enough to tell me the truth. And now I have to suffer because people think I know what happened, that I was in on it and covered for you and then I went running and into hiding with you…and do you know why?" she asked after her rant.

Hercule had been staring wide-eyed the whole time, daring not to squeak out any sounds for fear of her wrath. He merely shook his head from side to side as this was about as much as he could do right now out of fear.

"It's because…I love you daddy" she said as she began to try and hold back her emotions. She was Videl Satan after all, can't go around being all emotional.

"It's just been me and you for years. We've trained together, fought together and won together. I've trusted you every step of the way, believed in everything you've said, how you're the strongest in the world…but now…now I know the truth. You say you're the strongest, yet some skinny blonde kicked your ass in the first round and the worst part is, she outclassed you every step of the way" she rambled on, her voice cracking slightly as her emotions began to come to the forefront.

"It was right then, when you hit the outside of the ring that I realised, the stories…they were all lies, my life…built on a lie, you beating Cell…a lie!" she continued, tears now rolling down her face.

"There was simply no way that YOU beat Cell, not with a piss poor performance like that. I used to be proud to say who my dad was, to call myself Satan. Now? I'm just Videl. I'm just a girl, living with a family who I hardly know in the middle of the woods with the father I disowned" she said, unable to stop the tears from coming.

Hercule who was already stiff as a board, stiffened even more and sat at his full height at those last words '_the father I disowned'._

"V-V-Vid-Videl I…" he tried to say.

"No! Save it! I'm done, I couldn't care less about what really happened, why would I believe anything that comes out of your mouth from now on?" she asked though was not expecting any answer.

Hercule was flabbergasted, he didn't know what to say, he didn't know what he could say to that.

The screeching of wood against floor could be heard as Videl stood up from the table to leave. Hercule made a last gasp attempt to get his daughter to listen;

"Videl, sweet pea, wait…please listen!" he begged as he too stood up and reached his arm out towards her in a motion for her to stop and turn back around.

"Don't…don't ever speak to me again" she cried out the last part and ran from the room, upstairs and in to the room that she was currently occupying.

Hercule stood there, motionless for a moment before his hand fell to his side and his head sunk as low as it could whilst he remained standing;

"What have I done?" he whispered to himself as a single tear began to run down his face.

* * *

She lay there on the bed for an unknown amount of time. She didn't care though, she had nothing left. Well that wasn't exactly true, she had Erasa and Sharpner her best friends, although she couldn't really see them when she wanted as they'd have to come all the way out here to see her which right now wasn't too likely.

Then there was Gohan. The nerdy boy from school who has been nothing but nice to her, never once said a bad word about her, talked behind her back about her or used her to get to…that man. She couldn't wait until Gohan and his family got home, maybe once he was back if she asked real nice, he'd lay there with her and listen to her ramblings and allow her to steal a hug or two, Kami knows she needed a hug right now but the pillow would have to do for the moment.

* * *

A while later, Gohan, Goten and Chichi returned from shopping, stopping just at the edge of the clearing and walking back towards their home;

"If I've told you boys once I've told you a hundred times, you are to keep your appetites under control when we're in public" scolded Chichi.

"Sorry mom" said both boys.

"Good, now hurry up and let's get these groceries in the house so I can start preparing lunch and dinner for tonight" she said.

Both Gohan and Goten nodded and continued on their way home.

Upon arriving, Chichi opened the front door and led the way in;

"Videl, Hercule, we're home" she called out in to the house. No response;

"Hmm, strange…hello, anybody home?" she called out again.

She moved in to the kitchen to find Hercule just sitting there, his eyes glued to the table as he sat hunched over with a few tears having hit the table.

"Hercule? Is everything alright?" Chichi asked hesitantly as Gohan and Goten walked in behind her.

"…no…" was all he said, not even bothering to look up at the woman.

She placed the bags down and walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder;

"Is it to do with Videl?" she asked carefully.

Hercule only nodded a response. Chichi gathered that their talk must not have gone very well if he was here sulking and Videl wasn't to be seen.

At this, Gohan reached out his senses and determined that Videl was upstairs in Goten's room;

"I'll go check on her" he said, addressing his mother.

* * *

Videl lay there, not long ago having woke up from a nap. She figured that she must have cried herself to sleep, something that she hadn't done in a number of years, not since her mom had gone. She was staring blankly at the wall, trying to figure out what to do next. Hell, was there even a next. Where did you go from here? Nobody wants to know you. Nobody cares. Nobody is going to give you a break. Nobody is going to give you any help. All that will happen is the world will try to break you down until there is nothing left and then break you down even further beyond that. So why bother? Is there a point in building a house? Even if it is built, would she then have to share it with…him?

Just then, a light rapping could be heard from the door;

"Hey Videl? It's Gohan. Are you okay?" she heard from the other side of the door.

She turned her head to look at the door and sat for a moment, deciding on whether or not to talk to Gohan about her discussion with Hercule. On one hand she wanted to talk to him and just lay there and hug him for comfort. On the other hand, she didn't want to burden him with her problems. After another tentative moment, she called out to him;

"Yeah the door's open" she said.

The door creaked open and Gohan popped his head in;

"Hey. Can I come in?" he asked.

"Sure" she replied. He walked in and closed the door over.

"So, I take it the conversation with your dad didn't exactly go well?" he asked further.

"No…" she replied as she stared down at the ground.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" he asked.

"Not really no" was her response.

"Oh, ok…I guess I'll go then" he replied.

"Wait! Gohan, could I ask you a favour?" she asked with a hint of panic or desperation in her voice.

"Hmm, sure what is it?" he asked.

"Could you maybe…sit with me…for a while?" she asked.

"Of course!" he replied and made his way to the bed and sat down next to her.

Once he had sat down, Videl shifted herself to be sat next to him and slowly leaned her head to rest on his shoulder.

Gohan was surprised at this but made no movement and simply let her rest her head on his shoulder. They both sat there in silence for a while, possibly a quarter of an hour but he wasn't really sure.

Eventually Videl moved to sit upright again and she turned her head towards him;

"Thank you Gohan…for everything" she said, a small smile lightly adorning her face.

"Anytime" he replied, a smile on his face as he put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a light yet reassuring squeeze.

Both of their chests fluttered once more, more strongly than either of them had experienced previously and both teens faces' flushing slightly. Videl turned her head away in embarrassment, yet a small smile remained on her face. Gohan quickly got up before saying over his shoulder;

"Krillin should be here soon along with 18 and Marron".

"Oh? Why are they coming here?" she asked curiously. Gohan then turned fully around to face her again;

"Well, since you and your dad aren't going to go training, I thought he could come and help us build the house for you guys" he replied.

"Really? You didn't need to do that you know" she replied bashfully.

"Well…yeah I know but the sooner we can get the house done, the sooner you can get your own space. I know having a room to yourself is probably enough but I'm sure you want a room to call your own and not Goten's room for the rest of your life" he explained.

Videl knew he was right, though the thought of spending the rest of her life in a house with him wasn't very off-putting at all.

"Yeah I guess you're right. I think I'll come help you guys, my body seems to have loosened up a bit. Maybe running off in to the woods actually did some good" she replied.

"Great…well I guess I'll leave for now. I'll call up when they arrive" he replied before making his way out of the room.

Videl decided to freshen up a bit before Krillin and his family arrived, after all she'd been running out in the woods, cried for a while and slept in the clothes she had only freshly put on that morning. She wanted a chance to restart the day afresh so a change in clothes and another shower might just help.

She got a fresh set of clothes and grabbed a few towels and went back to the bathroom. She started the shower to allow it time to heat up before removing her clothes and taking a step in to the nice warm shower. She turned the heat up slightly to allow the hot water to help relax her muscles, hoping to take away any of the extra strain they had already been under.

As she was showering, she thought back to Gohan sitting on the bed with her. She was very very thankful for having Gohan as a friend. The fact that he didn't ask her any questions and just allowed her to rest her head on his shoulder was pure bliss. She didn't really want to talk and she would have preferred to have had a hug but she thought she was likely pushing her luck at that point.

She couldn't shake the thought of the boy from her head. His shoulders were broad, she noticed that when he was standing in front of her in the bedroom before leaving. She could also tell he was definitely hiding more muscles than he would let on, she had noticed this when resting on his shoulder, her arm had been brushing against his arm and part of his torso with the way she was sitting.

The thought caused her to blush again as the hot water ran down her neck on to her chest and made its way down the rest of her body, causing certain parts of her body to become slightly aroused;

_'STOP IT Videl. This is no time to be thinking like that. Gohan is a nice, sweet innocent young man and the last thing you need to be doing is causing any more problems for him or yourself right now, or you might find yourself with nowhere to go, especially if that house isn't finished' _she both thought and chastised herself at the same time.

"Hey Videl, Krillin's here!" she heard from outside the bathroom.

She turned the water off and began drying herself off before shouting back a reply;

"I'll be down in a few minutes".

She might have needed a bit longer as her hair had gotten wet so would need drying time, that and she hadn't quite shaken the thought of Gohan from her mind;

"C'mon Videl, steel yourself, you've got bigger issues to worry about" she said to herself trying to focus her thoughts.

Once she had dried herself and put on the new clothes, she made her way back to the bedroom to sort her hair quickly then made her way downstairs. The first thing she heard was her new mentors voice;

"Hey Videl, how you holding up? I hope that training wasn't too much for you?" he asked with a huge grin on his face.

"Hey Krillin. Yeah that training really kicked our butts I'm not gonna lie" she replied with a chuckle, trying to hide how much it felt like hell.

"Good to hear. Well despite the fact that we're not training today, I think we could still get in a good workout when we build this house of yours" he explained.

"Hmmm, I never thought of that" she replied.

"Yeah, it's the kinda thing me and Goku used to do way back in the day" he said.

Just as he had said that, 18 came through from the kitchen with Marron following closely behind;

"Hey" said 18 as she addressed Videl.

"Hey 18, hey Marron, it's good to see you both again" she replied with smiles for both of them

18 looked at the girl for a moment then in a rare moment smiled back;

"It's nice to see you too Videl".

"She must like you, it's not often she smiles at people" Krillin chuckled before looking over at this wife.

That probably hadn't been the smartest thing he'd said in a while as 18 only glared at him with those icy cold blues of hers. Krillin paled slightly before being saved by Videl;

"So…er…Krillin, you came here to help us build this house. Why don't we get started right away?" she smiled awkwardly.

"Y-yeah, good idea" he replied with a scared tone before making a bee-line for the door.

"C'mon Gohan, me and Krillin are getting a start on the house now" she called in to the kitchen on her way past before talking to 18 in a hurried tone;

"It was nice talking to you 18, I'd love to stay and chat but got a house to build" she said as she hurried out the door.

Gohan then walked in to the hall way just outside the kitchen confused as to what was going on;

"Why are they in such a hurry" he asked as he turned to 18. Once he had seen the glare on 18's face he realised exactly why. Someone (Krillin) had made a comment and she wasn't happy;

"Oh is that the time? Gotta go…be somewhere, bye" he too also rushed out the door.

Although Gohan could take on 18 in a fight if it ever came to it, she still punched hard and he'd rather not be on the receiving end of one of her fists. It oddly reminded him of being hit by his mom's frying pan for some reason?

* * *

Krillin, Videl and Gohan all made their way towards the site for Hercule and Videls new house. Krillin looked around for a bit before speaking up;

"Okay so where should we start?" he asked.

"Well, we dug the holes soooo…foundation?" Videl half explained, half asked. Gohan filled in the rest;

"Yeah that's right, we'd best look at getting the foundation set just now and then work on the rest of the house as we go along" he explained.

"Great, so have you got the building materials?" Krillin asked.

"Well we've picked out some trees but we haven't chopped them down yet so I guess that's where we're headed next?" asked Videl.

"Sounds good to me" replied Gohan.

"Lead the way" said Krillin.

As the trio made their way to their desired trees with Videl leading, Gohan hung back slowly to talk to Krillin;

"I don't know if I've already mentioned this but she still doesn't know about energy control so we can't just blast the trees down" he whispered.

"Sure thing, you've got it. I did think about that and I think I've got a creative way around it" replied Krillin.

Eventually they made it to one of the trees that they were going to use to start with;

"Hey Gohan. This was one of the trees, right?" Videl asked.

"Yeah that's the one" he replied.

"Alright, now Videl since our training was cancelled today, let me show you something" started Krillin, "the reason I had you and your dad doing such an intensive warm up is for this reason" he finished before moving to the side of the tree.

He took a stance with the tree in front of him and motioned a few times with his arm as if he were about to punch the tree, taking deep breaths as he did.

"He's not really going to try and punch the tree down…is he?" asked a curious and sceptical Videl.

"Just watch" was all Gohan said to her.

After a few more motions Krillin drew his arm back and yelled out as he threw his arm straight at the tree connecting with it. The tree shook violently before it started toppling over, roots being ripped out of the ground as the large tree was felled and hit the ground with a crashing force that could be heard for some distance.

Videl just stood there, flabbergasted at what just happened unable to believe that such a feat were possible.

"H-ho-how? How did you do that?" she asked with complete disbelief.

"Lots of hard work and training. That is what the Turtle Hermit style can do for you Videl and so, so much more. Heck just ask Gohan, he could probably just push it over" said Krillin with a smirk on his face.

Gohan didn't exactly want Videl knowing that as it would just draw suspicion towards him. Videl turned her head to look at Gohan, her gaze meeting his as he turned his head to face her before replying to Krillin's comment;

"Possibly?" he replied uneasily, though it could have been mistaken for him being unsure if he could or couldn't do it whilst in reality, he knew fine well he could possibly do it with two or three fingers instead of the whole palm of his hand.

Videl's eyes grew wider, never in her wildest dreams did she think a single person could topple a tree without an axe or some other instrument, yet here Krillin just demonstrated it for her and then implied that her friend…and possible crush…was potentially able to do it with much more ease than Krillin had.

"I'm not gonna lie though, it'll take a hell of a lot of hard work to get to this kind of level, if you're up to the challenge" said Krillin.

Videl looked back at him and thought for a moment about what Krillin had just performed before her face became serious. A challenge? Why, she was Videl, she could never refuse a challenge;

"Yeah, I'm in" she replied in a serious tone.

Gohan looked over to Videl and seen the seriousness in her face. This was the Videl he knew, this was the one that he had known in school, this was the one…the one? Where'd that come from?

"Alright c'mon, help me get this back to the house so we can get to work" said Krillin. Both teens helped with moving the mighty tree, though if Videl were being honest, she didn't feel like she was doing much of the work lifting this big tree. It seemed like a heck of a lot of the weight was being carried by the two men, another question to add to her list of questions for Gohan.

The three made their way back to the house and began chopping their quarry in to pieces that could be used for the stilts of the house. They had made tremendous progress on the house today as they had been able to put up all the stilts for the home and had even begun making the base for the house. That had been a lot further then when Hercule and Sharpner had helped them.

* * *

A few hours had passed by and the three of them had slowed down their pace as they finished putting the base of the home together and in good time too, not only had they run out of wood and would need to chop down some more trees but it was now late afternoon and Gohan's stomach was telling him what time it was;

"What the heck was that?" asked Videl

"Oh…uh…that was just…my stomach" said Gohan, one hand behind his head with the famous grin his family were known for.

"Oh yeah, I forgot exactly how much food you pack away, no wonder it's growling at you" said Videl with a slight chuckle in her voice.

Just at that they heard someone yelling towards them from Gohan's home;

"Dinner's ready" shouted Chichi.

"Alright, quitting time" said Krillin.

Gohan moved at a slightly quicker pace than the other two to reach the home first;

"He sure does like his food, doesn't he" joked Videl.

"His father and brother are exactly the same, not to mention a few of our other friends. It's like they're bottomless pits" he replied.

The two of them arrived at the house and made their way inside closing the door behind them.

They made their way in to the kitchen where 18 and Marron were sitting down on one side of the table, Gohan and Goten sat at the other side of the table. Hercule sat at the foot of the table and glanced at the doorway as Videl came in before averting his eyes back to his empty plate waiting for everyone to sit down.

Videl merely looked at him in annoyance before taking a seat at the head of the table. 18 picked Marron up and sat her on her lap so that Krillin could also sit down;

"Thanks again for having us Chichi. It's nice to be able to visit once in a while" said 18.

"Oh it's no trouble at all, I mean look who I normally cook for" said Chichi.

"Still, you should come visit us once in a while Chichi, take a break from feeding these two" said Krillin pointing at the half Saiyans as he sat down.

"I don't know about that, after all if I take even one day off I'm sure they'd go weak from starvation" chuckled Chichi.

"You wouldn't really do that, would you mom?" asked Goten, his eyes wide with curiosity and slight fear that Chichi actually would.

"Don't worry Goten, I wouldn't let you go hungry" she said smiling at the young boy who relaxed once his mother had assured him his food supply wouldn't be stopped.

"Now, everyone except Gohan and Goten can dig in" said Chichi to the table.

"Aww mom" said both boys.

"Now now boys, if you get to go first there won't be anything left for the rest of us" said Chichi as she reminded both her sons.

"Yes ma'am" they replied.

Videl watched the scene unfold in front of her as she reached to various different bowls and dishes to fill her plate. She couldn't help but think how cute it was to see Gohan sitting so helpless in front of all this food. She had to mentally slap herself for thinking that he was cute, not realising that she was staring at him. He looked up and caught her looking and smiled at her. In return she smiled back before finishing loading her plate.

"Alright is that everyone?" asked Chichi as everyone nodded in confirmation that they had filled their plates.

"Ok boys now you can eat" she said to her sons. No sooner had she said that did half the table look empty from the two of them grabbing food seemingly at random.

Videl didn't think she'd ever get used to seeing this sort of thing at meal times.

* * *

After dinner was finished, Videl offered to do the dishes for Chichi. After all, it was the right thing to do seeing as the mother took good care of them all. Chichi had ordered Gohan to help her while she, Hercule (who was still rather quiet), Krillin and 18 all went in to the main room to chat and have coffee. Goten and Marron went up to his room to play whilst Videl wasn't in it.

Videl washed dishes whilst Gohan dried them and they steadily fell in to a routine without even trying, as if they just knew how to fall in line with the other's rhythm. Halfway through washing, Videl stole a glance at Gohan. He looked so calm and peaceful, like nothing troubled him at all. She wondered what he thought of her, though she already had an idea after a conversation that they had previously. Although he was such a great friend to her, she had begun to wonder if there was something…more, something that she could maybe pursue. A wild notion to say the least. She had never been interested in boys before, she never had to be. She used to have one goal and that was to become the strongest, stronger than even…him. In turn this would help her police work and finally get her out from "his" shadow.

But now, now that dream was kind of gone. Sure, she could still train and get ridiculously stronger if Krillin were the standard to go by but she wouldn't be able to go back to the police force and work there any longer and being stronger than her father meant nothing now. No, all she had really was…Gohan, well, that and his family and friends of course but, really it was just Gohan she had. She wasn't keeping up to date with Erasa or Sharpner like she should so it was just him but if she were being honest with herself, he might be all she really needed.

Gohan was so supportive, kind and caring, had nothing but nice things to say about her despite everything she had put him through previously, never held any malice or ill will towards her and heck, would probably defend her honor because that is just the kind of guy that Gohan is.

She hadn't realised that she was now staring at him, nor did she know for how long she had been staring as it was only when she realised that he was clicking his fingers in front of her did she snap out of her trance;

"Earth to Videl, are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

"What? Oh, sorry I was just…deep in thought" she replied quickly.

"I'll say, there are still dishes to be done silly" he chuckled.

"Right…Gohan, can I ask you something?" she asked.

"Hmm, sure go ahead" he replied.

"Is what Krillin said true? Could you really have pushed that tree with just the palm of your hand?" she asked tentatively.

Gohan was a bit conflicted on how to answer, it was never going to be an easy question to answer, not without her knowing everything that he wanted to tell her. He thought about it for a moment to decide the best way to answer;

"Honestly…yeah, I could do it" he replied.

"Really? I'll be honest Gohan, I didn't think you had the strength to do anything like that" she replied.

"What ever gave you that idea?" he then asked.

"Well, for starters you've never really shown any muscle mass to give the impression that you work out. That and…you're too nice" she said.

"Too nice? What does that mean?" asked Gohan with a confused expression.

"I don't mean it in a bad way, I just mean…I couldn't see you harming a fly, let alone trying to destroy anything of nature" she explained.

"I see, I suppose I get what you mean. I wear baggy clothes if you haven't noticed because I don't want people to see my muscles. I'm kinda self-conscious about it, that and I have…some scars that I'd rather people not see" he explained.

Videl could tell that the scars were a rather sore subject for him;

"That's alright, you don't need to explain it to me. Though I'm naturally curious, if you couldn't tell, I'll not ask about how you got those scars" she said in an understanding voice.

"Thanks Videl…if I can trust you enough…I might be willing to tell you about them…but another time, perhaps" he said.

"Sure" she said as she flashed him a smile.

That smile, Gohan thought, could easily melt his heart like a hot knife through butter. It was an image that he would like to keep in his head if he could.

The two of them continued to wash the dishes until they were all done and placed back in their respective cupboards.

As they joined the others in the main room, Krillin and 18 had just gotten out of their seats ready to leave;

"Well, it's been fun but we should really get back home, it is a long journey after all" said Krillin as 18 went upstairs to collect Marron.

"It was great seeing you all, we should really do this more often" said Chichi. Krillin nodded in agreement.

"Hey Videl, will you and your father be joining us training tomorrow?" asked Krillin.

Videl looked over at Hercule who only looked back with his eyes and didn't move his head.

"I don't know, we'll call you in the morning and let you know" she replied.

"Great" said Krillin as 18 returned with Marron and Goten at her heels.

"Shall we get going honey?" he asked his wife.

"Alright, let's go" replied 18.

They made their way out the front door with Gohan, Goten, Videl and Chichi in tow bidding them farewell. Krillin threw out a dyno-cap with their small hovercar inside as the three of them piled in and waved goodbye to everyone standing at the door, after all, they still had to keep up the appearance of not flying.

After everyone made their way back in to the house, Videl turned to the room and began to speak;

"if you don't mind, I'm gonna head upstairs, I want to call Erasa on my cellphone and catch up with her before bed" she announced to the room.

"Not at all dear, just don't stay up too late" replied Chichi.

"Thanks. Good night everyone" she said, she even glared at her father slightly, more to acknowledge that he existed and nothing more.

"Good night Videl" replied the rest of the room.

Just before she left the doorway of the room she looked to Gohan;

"Good night…Gohan" she said, blushing slightly before quickly turning away and making her way out of the room.

Gohan just stood there confused, she already said good night, why did she have to say it again? Chichi on the other hand, had also been confused…initially, then it clicked in her mind when she noticed the blush on Videl's face. This was too perfect for her, maybe if all went well, she'd finally get those grandbabies that she always wanted. A big smile adorned her face when she realised what was happening.

"Hey squirt, you wanna go upstairs and play in my room for a while?" Gohan asked his brother.

"Sure thing" beamed Goten at the prospect of playing with his brother. He hadn't spent much time with his brother this week so Goten wasn't passing up this opportunity.

The two boys went upstairs, leaving Chichi and Hercule alone;

"You've been awfully quiet since this afternoon" said Chichi.

Hercule finally took his gaze from the point in the room he'd been staring at for…Kami only knows how long.

"Wha? Oh, yeah" was all that he could say.

"Was it really that bad?" she asked.

"Yeah. Can I be honest with you Chichi?" he asked.

"Preferably, yes" she replied.

"I don't think she's going to forgive me this time. She's always forgiven me for my mistakes, missing school plays, martial arts tournaments, some of the states I've come home in, the women I've invited home, but this, this rolls all of them up in to one little ball which is just a child's play thing compared to this" he managed to squeak out.

"I don't know what to do with myself, or if there is anything I can do" he finished.

"Well, since you were honest with me, I'll be honest with you. We already knew you didn't defeat Cell" said Chichi seriously but quietly.

Hercule perked up at this with a confused and worried look on this face;

"Wha-What do you mean, you knew?" he asked.

"Let's just say, you're not the only one who has secrets to keep, but now is not the time to discuss them. I think after this weekend, you'll learn a lot more than you bargained for and will go someway towards mending your relationship with your daughter" explained Chichi.

"B-but how, how do you know it'll help?" he asked, still confused.

"Just trust me. For now though, you'll have to just suck it up and get on with it for a few days, as tough as that may seem" she finished before switching the tv on and turning on one of her favourite soaps.

Hercule, confused as he was, decided to do something that he hadn't done in a long, long time. He made his way out of the room and out the back door and sat on the ground a few feet from the door and began an attempt at meditation.

* * *

"Shut up, just shut up Videl!" shouted Erasa from the other end of the cellphone. This had certainly been a bad idea.

"Would you please stop yelling that Erasa" she calmly asked her blonde friend, though with a hint of annoyance.

"How can I stop yelling, you've just told me that you have a thing for Gohan. YOU! Videl Satan" she stated.

"I didn't say that I did, just that…I was thinking about it" Videl tried to defend herself.

"Even if that's all there was to it, that is still a major leap for you Videl. You've never admitted once that you've liked any guy, let alone considered anything with a guy. OMG this is HUGE!" screamed Erasa, bubbly as ever.

"Please Erasa, could you tone it down a bit, any louder and I think he'll hear you from two rooms away" replied Videl.

"And he should know! You'd both make such a cute couple and it would be a match made in heaven for both of you. Besides, I know for a fact that Angela has her eyes on him, as do a few other girls in school" said Erasa, trying to pry more info out of her friend.

There was a short pause on the line before Videl spoke up again;

"Like who?" she asked.

"Why do you want to know? Hmmm, jealous are we?" teased Erasa

"No, of course not, I'm just making conversation, it's not like there's a great deal to do out here" replied Videl. It was a weak defence but it was all she had.

"Right, I believe you Videl. Don't worry about the girls at school, I'll make sure that they know Gohan is off the market" she said.

"Thanks Erasa" replied Videl.

"Why are you thanking me? I thought you were only making conversation?" teased Erasa once again.

"I…er...what I meant was…" Videl stammered out, just as Erasa chuckled to herself on the phone.

"Hehe, good night Videl, we'll talk soon" said Erasa before hanging up the phone.

Videl looked at the phone for a second as the line disconnected and she placed the phone on the bedside table.

She got herself ready for bed and then lay down and pulled the covers over her. She was staring at the ceiling, her hands intertwined whilst she fiddled with her thumbs as if she were nervous about something. A single thought was running through her head;

_'Gohan…would you maybe…like to …go out this weekend?'_

* * *

A/N: Wow, longest chapter yet. Honestly I was less than halfway through when I thought I should stop but then realised that I was nowhere near done on this chapter.

I would also like to take a moment to respectfully thank all of those who have so far reviewed this story whether it was harsh criticism or encouragement:

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	10. Chapter 10: Preparation

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT or Dragonball Super, any of it's film adaptations or the manga.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

The next morning Videl woke up, wiping away the sleep from her eyes and stretching her muscles before slowly getting out of bed. She wasn't sure what the plan was for the day, after all, tonight was the night of Bulma's party. She made a mental note to phone Erasa and ask if she would like to get ready over at Gohan's, seeing as she couldn't really show her face in the city despite her appearance change, though she would need to clear it with Chichi first.

She got up and moved to the dresser where she picked out some clothes and underwear and made her way to the bathroom. She got herself ready for the day, taking care of her business and showering before getting her clothes on. Once she was finished, Videl walked down the stairs and in to the kitchen to find the Son matriarch cooking up a storm;

"Good Morning Chichi" said Videl in wonderment as she looked around the kitchen.

"Oh, morning Videl. Sorry about the mess" replied Chichi.

"No problem, uh…Chichi, what are you doing? I know the boys eat a lot but this is insane" exclaimed Videl.

"Oh no no no, it's for Bulma's party. As good as those fancy chefs of hers are, they just don't make food the way the men like it. They'll be satisfied sure but they'll not be fulfilled unless they get the best" smiled Chichi.

"Okay…sure…need some help?" asked Videl.

"Why yes, grab one of those capsules on the counter and store all the food on the table in it please?" asked Chichi.

Videl picked up one of the capsules and began to arrange the food for storage;

"Hey Chichi, where are the boys? I thought they'd be down here by now trying to attack all this food?" asked Videl.

"Well, I fed them early and sent them off to go play or train or whatever, it was mostly just to get Goten to run off some of that energy of his, after all, we'll be out late tonight and I want him to have a nap in the afternoon so that he'll be able to stay up late and play with Trunks" said Chichi.

"Oh, alright. Hey Chichi, do you think it would be alright if Erasa were to come over later so we can all get ready for tonight?" asked Videl, she was certainly asking a fair few questions today.

"That would be wonderful dear, sure go ahead and ask her" replied Chichi.

"Thanks, let me get all this food packed first" replied Videl. She didn't honestly think Chichi would say no but she had to ask first.

Once the food was all away, Videl pulled out her cellphone and looked up Erasa's number in her phone as she walked out in to the hallway to speak. Just as she was about to hit the call button, Gohan and Goten walked back in through the front door;

"Hey Videl" greeted both boys looking worn out.

"Hey boys, have fun?" asked Videl with a giggle.

"Yeah, Gohan played and trained with me all morning. You should have seen it Videl, I tried jumping right over big brother, I didn't think he'd be able to get me that high up but he still grabbed on to my leg and brought me back down" explained Goten.

"Wow, that must have really been something" replied Videl trying to humour the young boy, she thought he was just over exaggerating things.

"It was, I'm gonna go ask mom if I can have a cookie" said Goten before leaving the teens on their own.

"So Videl, whatcha doing out here?" asked Gohan.

Videl then turned her attention to the older, hotter looking boy. She had to mentally slap herself for thinking that before quickly answering him;

"Oh, I was just gonna phone Erasa and see if she wanted to come over here to get ready for the party at Bulma's tonight. Hey, do you think Bulma would mind if Sharpner came too? I know he hasn't met her but, I feel like Erasa might feel a bit left out, after all, she'll only know you, me, your mom, your brother and…him. You'll probably be talking to your friends, Chichi will probably be talking with Bulma or 18 I'd imagine, heck I think I'll not have anyone to talk to now I think about it" said Videl, not stopping for pause.

"Hehe, I wouldn't abandon you Videl" replied Gohan. Videl blushed slightly at the thought of his kindness and being so sweet about keeping her company.

"T-thanks" she replied.

"I'll go phone Bulma and ask but I don't think she'll mind" he replied.

"Great, I'm just gonna phone Erasa" she said.

They parted ways for a moment, Gohan to go use the house phone and Videl went and stood by the front door and hit the call button on her phone.

After a few rings, the ever bubbly girl answered;

"Hey Videl, what's up?" answered Erasa.

"Hey Erasa, not much, just wanted to see if you wanted to come over to Gohan's to get ready for Bulma's party tonight?" she asked her friend.

"Sure Videl, of course, you didn't think I was gonna miss an opportunity to get you all glitzed and glamoured now did you?" retorted Erasa.

Suddenly Videl remembered why a question like that was a silly thing to ask Erasa.

"Alright fine but nothing too over the top" replied Videl.

"YES, this is gonna be awesome" cried Erasa.

Whilst Erasa was cheering, Videl caught sight of Gohan who was giving her a thumbs up.

"Oh and invite Sharpner along as well, Gohan's just given me the green light to invite him along" said Videl.

"Awesome, I'll give him a call and tell him" replied Erasa.

"Great, I'll text you the details on where he needs to meet up with Gohan" said Videl.

"Alright, catch ya later Videl" said Erasa.

"Catch ya later Erasa" replied Videl.

"So, is Erasa excited for tonight?" asked Gohan who hadn't left after giving Videl the thumbs up.

"She's always excited hehe. Hey Gohan, would you mind meeting Sharpner in West City to take him to the party? I don't want him to roll up on his own" she asked.

"Of course Videl, no problem" he replied.

"Thanks" she replied with a big heartfelt smile on her face.

They both made their way in to the kitchen to see Chichi still busy with cooking;

"Just one cookie Goten" said Chichi.

"Ok mom" said Goten.

"Hey mom, I'm going to meet our friend Sharpner later on before the party so I'll need to leave earlier than everyone. Bulma's already said it was ok for him to come along" he said to his mother.

"Alright dear but could you please take Goten with you as well, that way us girls can get ready together" said Chichi as she was stirring something in a pot.

"Sure thing mom" he replied.

The two teens continued to help Chichi with prepping and storing food throughout the morning whilst Goten continued to play on his own for a while.

Hercule had been awfully quiet all morning as far as Videl was aware. She decided to enquire as to his whereabouts, not that she was concerned but just curious as she ever was;

"Hey, has anyone seen my da...I mean, Hercule, has anyone seen him at all?" she asked, catching herself before calling him her dad.

"Yeah, he's outside meditating, though to be honest he's not doing very good at it" replied Gohan, slightly miffed that she hadn't yet made an attempt to reconcile with her father.

"Meditating? I haven't seen him meditate since...hmmm, maybe ever?" she replied whilst being puzzled herself.

"Well he's trying" replied Gohan.

"Well let him try then" said Videl dismissively.

This bothered Gohan but he decided to drop it for now, it wasn't his issue to solve but he didn't like watching her dismiss her father entirely.

"You know, he's decided not to come to Bulma's party tonight" said Gohan.

This peaked Videl's interest slightly, but not enough to want to dive further in to the topic;

"Really? What a shame" she replied through a sarcastic mumble.

"Now now, it's not polite to talk about someone like that" said Chichi, reprimanding both teenagers.

"Sorry Mom" replied Gohan.

"Sorry Chichi" replied Videl.

"That's quite alright, now Videl, do you think you could put all this food in your jetcopter please?" asked Chichi.

"Sure thing Chichi" she replied.

"And Gohan, I want you to go pack an overnight bag for Goten, he and I will be staying at Bulma's tonight" she said to her son.

"Sure thing mom" he replied, heading for the stairs whilst Videl gathered the capsule and made her way out the door as well.

* * *

Later in the day, Gohan and Videl went outside for a walk whilst they were waiting for Erasa to arrive. They chatted as they walked towards the stream close to the house;

"And then he...threw me...at a mountain…" finished Gohan.

"He threw you...at a mountain?" said Videl, repeating the statement with a questioning disbelief.

"Well yeah but I mean, pfft c'mon, you think I got anywhere near the mountain" he replied.

"Rrriiiggghhhttt" she replied.

"So anyway, you excited for the party tonight?" asked Gohan.

"Hmmm, not sure, I mean on the one hand I am, it's been way too long since I was last able to just go out and have a good time" she started.

"But, on the other hand, I don't really know anyone here and I'm...a bit...nervous of what they might say" she finished as she looked away whilst they kept walking.

"You don't need to worry about them Videl, they're good people, besides, they know your dad didn't beat Cell" he said without thinking.

"Huh? What do you mean they know?" she asked sharply.

"Eh I mean...they were under the same impression that Krillin was, you know? They thought that your dad didn't beat him either" he said, mentally cursing himself for his slip up and hoping against hope that she would believe him.

"Oh, alright...and he is not my father, remember? He's Hercule" she replied.

Gohan stopped walking and stood there staring at the ground. Videl walked a few paces more before stopping herself as she realised that her friend wasn't with her;

"Gohan, why'd you stop?" she asked curiously.

"Videl...promise me something?" he asked without looking up. Videl walked back over and stood in front of him;

"What is it?" she asked, a hint of concern in her voice.

"Please, try to talk to your dad...I know that you don't want to acknowledge him as your father anymore but...if something were to happen and you didn't get the chance to speak to him or ask him questions or grow up with him by your side, I think you'd regret it" he said as he stared away in to the sky as if looking for someone.

"Gohan...I...I don't know if I can do that" she replied softly, now looking at the ground herself.

"I know...it's not easy, all I ask is that you try" he said as he put a hand softly on to her shoulder.

She looked back up at his hand and traced it back to his face, a warm gentle smile adorned it and she reciprocated by smiling herself.

"I'm not making any promises Gohan, but I'll think about it" she replied.

"Thank you" he said as they both stared at each other. They were both doing the same thing, admiring the other person, taking in every feature, their hair and eyes and facial features, both finding each other pleasant to look at. Eventually Videl broke the staring contest;

"We should probably head back, it won't be long until Erasa gets here and you'll need to get to Bulma's soon as well" she said.

"Yeah you're right, c'mon let's go" he replied as they both started walking back the way in which they came, walking in a relative but pleasant silence once more.

* * *

There was a knocking at the door in the small house which was loud enough for Chichi and her frantic cooking to hear;

"Goten, would you get that please?" she asked.

"Sure thing mom" he replied.

Goten made his way to the front door and opened it to be greeted by a blonde haired teenager;

"Hi Goten, is your brother and Videl around?" she asked.

"Hi...um...hi, no they both went for a walk in the forest, they'll be back shortly, wanna come in and play with me?" he asked.

"Aww sure thing" she replied.

"_Gohan and Videl are away a walk are they? Well well well Miss Satan, you've certainly dug your claws in" _thought Erasa.

She followed the young boy in to the sitting room where he had previously been watching tv. He grabbed some action figures and gave one to Erasa and they both sat there and played around for a short while. Erasa was actually quite relaxed, despite the boy's energy, she was enjoying herself and not really worrying about life, until that was interrupted by the front door opening and Gohan and Videl walking back in;

"Gohan, you're back" shouted Goten as he ran up to his brother to give him a great big hug.

"Hey Goten, did you miss me?" he asked, knowing full well the answer.

"Uh huh" replied Goten.

"Hey Videl, _hey Gohan_" said Erasa.

"Hey Erasa" said Videl as she walked over to her best friend and gave her a hug.

"Hey Erasa" repeated Gohan, not picking up on the inflection in her tone.

"So what were you two doing hmmm? Out there all alone in the woods?" she asked coyly.

"Nothing much, we just went for a walk and talked for a while" replied Gohan.

"Talking, is that what they're calling it now? Hmmm?" replied Erasa, trying to make them blush.

"Is that what they're calling what now?" asked a confused Gohan.

"Never mind her Gohan, she's just being silly" said Videl who was currently glaring daggers at her best friend.

"Sure" replied Erasa with smug little look on her face.

"Anyway, shall we start getting ready?" asked Erasa.

"Erasa relax, there's still hours until the party" replied Videl, confused as to why they would need to start getting ready early.

"Yeah I know but we've got a lot of work to do if we're all going to get ready for a party" replied Erasa.

"I guess we should get going then huh Goten" Gohan said to his brother who just nodded in return.

"Sorry Gohan" said Erasa with a happy grin across her face.

"That's ok, c'mon Goten, let's get your stuff and say bye to mom" said Gohan as both boys left the room. Whilst they were gone, the girls had a small chat;

"So Videl, what did you really do out in the woods then?" asked Erasa, her eyes and the tone of her voice telling Videl exactly what she was implying.

"Erasa! Nothing like that, it's just like he said, we walked and talked" replied Videl.

"Sure you did" said Erasa still sporting a sly smile.

"We did, now get your mind off of my non-existent love life for a moment and let's get started on the journey that is getting ready for a party" said Videl sarcastically.

"Bye mom, we'll see you when you get to Bulma's" said Gohan as he was walking by the kitchen door and coming up to the sitting room's doorway.

"Bye Erasa, bye Videl, we'll see you when you get to Bulma's" he said as he went to turn away from the room and head towards the front door.

"Bye Gohan, bye Goten" said Erasa. Videl didn't say anything but had stood there paused for just a moment;

"Gohan, wait!" said Videl, a little more anxiously than she had meant. Gohan had already opened the door but stopped and turned back around as Videl had walked through doorway to the sitting room;

"Hmmm? Is something wrong Videl" he asked as she approached him.

She walked straight up to him and wrapped her arms around his torso and pulled herself against him and into a hug. Gohan stood there for a moment, confused as to why she had marched up and hugged him but then, remembering his manners decided to wrap his arms around her as well and return the hug.

After their embrace, they both let go and Gohan, still confused had to ask her;

"What was that for? Not that it wasn't nice or nothing" he said, flashing a trademark Son grin.

"Just wanted to say thanks again, and have a safe trip" she said, face slightly blushing realising just how close she had gotten and what she was doing.

"Thanks Videl, you ladies have a safe trip too, we'll see you soon" he replied as he and Goten left the house and walked away into the forest so as to not be seen flying.

* * *

Gohan and Goten were flying high in the skies above the clouds on their way to capsule corps, enjoying the boundless freedom that they had there with the wind rushing past them and the view they could get of the earth below them. Mid-flight, Goten turned to his brother and spoke;

"Hey Gohan" said Goten, raising his voice over the wind.

"Hmm? What's up Goten?" his brother asked.

"I was just wondering...is...Videl going to be my new sister?" he asked innocently.

Gohan went as red as a firetruck and sputtered for a moment;

"What? No! What gave you that idea?" Gohan asked his younger brother.

"Well, I heard mom talking and she was saying something about how much you like each other and that one day you would get married. Is that true Gohan?" he asked after explaining what he had heard.

"Well...I mean probably not Goten. I don't even know if she likes me that way" replied Gohan.

"Mom said she does" replied Goten.

"What!?" was all Gohan could say, looking dumbfounded at his brother.

"Yeah, mom was talking to Videls friend Erasa the last time she here and I heard her say to mom how much Videl liked you" said Goten still as innocent as ever.

"Really? Huh, I guess I'll have to ask Erasa myself" said Gohan as he looked ahead once more, albeit a bit wide-eyed.

"C'mon Gohan, last one there has to train with Trunks' dad" shouted Goten as he blasted off ahead of his brother.

"Hey no fair, wait for me" yelled Gohan as he too blasted off to try and catch up with his younger sibling.

* * *

Meanwhile back at the Son household, the girls had already started getting ready. Chichi was getting her makeup on whilst waiting for her hair to fully dry out after the shower she'd had whilst Videl and Erasa were in Goten's room.

Erasa had badgered Videl in to having a shower as soon as possible so that they would have all the time to get ready. Videl didn't see the point in it herself but she did ask for Erasa's help after all, would be a waste to just ignore her (and a bit disrespectful as well);

"Ok Videl, remember, get in get cleaned and remember to shave _*wink wink*_" said Erasa.

"Erasa! Stop it would you, I don't need you to remind me about basic hygiene, sheesh" said Videl.

"Ok ok, fine but please hurry up, I badly want to do your nails and makeup before moving on to your hair" replied Erasa.

"My hair? But I thought you liked my hair?" said a confused Videl.

"Oh I do but I just wanna add one or two touches to really make it stand out is all" replied Erasa.

"Ok, if you say so" said Videl, slightly defeated yet, slightly curious.

With that, Videl made her way to the bathroom to take a shower. Erasa had already had a shower at her place so she didn't need to worry about having one. Instead, she began to get ready herself by doing her makeup first and then moved on to doing her fingernails. Doing her makeup took a fair bit of time so by the time she had gotten to the third finger on one hand, Videl had already finished her shower and made her way back to the room.

Erasa finished doing the remaining fingers and allowed them time to dry before using that hand again. This meant that once Videl had dried off enough, she could then start applying makeup to her until she could use both hands again and do her other hand and Videl's nails. In the meantime however, Erasa took the task to a whole new level in Videl's eyes as she then began sorting through Videl's undergarments, deciding what the raven haired girl should and should not wear for the evening. After the awkward conversation had passed (for Videl at least) and both Videl had dried out and Erasa's nails dried, they then began doing Videl's makeup.

"I don't see what all the fuss is about, I mean it's just a party we're going to, you know chit chat and what not" said Videl.

"Just a party? JUST A PARTY! Videl! This is a party held by THE Bulma Briefs, we can't just turn up in normal clothes. Besides, how else are you supposed to impress a certain someone" said Erasa as she flashed a smile and a wink to her friend.

"Yeah...ok I get your point. Hey, come to think of it, did she even say if it was formal wear or...anything other than a dinner party?" asked Videl.

"Well it is a dinner party, it's implied that you dress nicely for the occasion. I thought you'd have known that Videl, what with the number of dinners and parties you've had to attend" replied Erasa.

"Well...yeah but, I haven't been to one in quite some time. Hercule just went off and did his own thing while I stayed at home, went to school, trained, etc" explained Videl.

"Still calling him Hercule then huh" asked Erasa. Videl had filled her in about her 'father' whilst they were both getting ready.

"Yep" replied the raven haired girl.

"And you're not gonna talk to him?" she further asked.

"Nope" was the curt reply from Videl.

"Alright...there we go, finishing touches. I know how much you don't like makeup Videl so I've only applied a light amount but I think it makes you look stunning" said Erasa.

Videl then picked up the hand mirror from the bed as there wasn't a vanity mirror or full length one available in Goten's room. She looked at herself and could hardly recognise who she was. Her face had a light brushing of foundation which covered the few freckles she had garnered over the last few weeks due to the weather, she had some reddish eye shadow which would go with her dress when she wore it later and her eyelashes had some more volume to them but not over the top amounts.

"Er...asa….I...I look...amazing" was all Videl to gasp out. Erasa walked up behind Videl and placed her chin on Videl's shoulder and looked in the mirror as well;

"See what you've been missing out on. I guarantee you Videl, Gohan will definitely take notice, he won't know what hit him" said Erasa.

Videl smiled a happy smile so wide that if the Sun were to ever go out she could restart it with the happy thought running through her mind.

"Hey Erasa" said Videl grabbing the blonde's attention, "Thanks" she said turning to her friend and embracing in a hug.

"You deserve this Videl, but don't cry, I don't want you ruining all that makeup" said Erasa half jokingly, half seriously.

"Hehe, I won't" said Videl.

* * *

Meanwhile, Chichi had been getting ready herself. She had made sure both her and Videl's dresses were ready for wearing and had left Videl's hanging in Goten's room for her, whilst hers was in her wardrobe. She had had a shower right after Videl and proceeded to dry off, using a hairdryer to try and tame her long hair before she could put it back in the bun that she was so fond of wearing in her hair.

Once she had accomplished this, she got her makeup done, similar to Videl where she only had a light amount applied and put on some pajamas in the mean time as she wasn't quite ready to put her dress on.

Chichi made her way out of her bedroom and downstairs in to the kitchen. She was greeted with a surprise when she found Hercule doing dishes that hadn't been done earlier in the day. She hadn't had time and with everyone being busy doing something for the party, she had never gotten around to doing them.

"Why Hercule, thank you for doing the dishes for me" said Chichi. Mr Satan merely looked up from his pile and looked at Chichi before speaking;

"You're welcome" he said in a low tone

"Hercule, are you sure you don't want to come to this party? You'll be more than welcome to come, I've got assurances of that" said Chichi.

"I appreciate it Chichi, actually I appreciate everything you've done for us, really I do, however, I don't feel deserving of fine dining and wining right now and I've got other problems that I need to spend more time figuring out" he replied.

"Okay but if you change your mind just phone Bulma's and someone will come get you. Her numbers on speed dial" said Chichi.

"Thanks Chichi" said Hercule as he turned back to do the dishes.

Chichi made her way back upstairs and in to her room. She took off her pajamas and took her own dress out of her wardrobe. Her's wasn't new, it was just something she had used once or twice previously seeing as she didn't get out of the house much. She squeezed herself in to the dress and zipped it up doing a quick twirl in her mirror. Chichi was happy with herself, the first time in quite some time that she felt as happy, though there would always be something missing from that happiness.

She grabbed a pair of earrings from her small jewellery collection and made her way out of the bedroom and down the hall.

She stopped in front of Goten's room and knocked on the door;

"Videl, Erasa, are you girls ready yet?" she asked whilst trying to get one of the earrings on her ear.

"Not quite, our makeup is done. We just need to get Videl in her dress and then a small touch for her hair and then I need to finish my hair" said Erasa from the other side of the door.

"Ok, don't be too long, we don't want to keep anyone waiting" said Chichi as she went back to her room and lay on the bed, taking a small breather for the day.

* * *

"Ok Videl, let's get this dress on you" said Erasa.

"Sure thing" replied Videl, as she stood awkwardly in her underwear.

Videl sat on the end of the bed as she placed the dress at her feet and slid her legs in, pulling the dress up towards herself before she stood and pulled the dress up further. Once the dress had reached her chest area, she placed one arm through the sleeve hole and then placed her other arm through the opposite hole and then turned around pulling her hair up slightly;

"Hey, could you zip me up?" Videl asked.

"Sure" said Erasa as she grabbed the zip and pulled it all the way to the top.

Videl then turned back around to face her friend who eyed her up and down;

"You do scrub up good after all" said Erasa with a smirk adorning her face. Videl shoved her on the shoulder;

"Shut up" she playfully responded.

"Ok, last thing, hair" said Erasa.

"So...what exactly are you going to do to my hair this time?" asked Videl.

"Well last time I chopped off all that long hair and removed some of the volume, leaving you with shoulder length hair right?" said Erasa.

"Right?" replied Videl cautiously.

"This time, I'm going to do something simple that will make you look so damn beautiful that Gohan won't be able to resist you" said Erasa enthusiastically.

"Ok, so what is it?" asked Videl.

"You'll see" replied Erasa. Videl didn't like to wait, she was a rather impatient person but she'd wait this one out seeing as it was Erasa.

Erasa pulled out a hair curler from her bag of tricks and plugged it in to the nearest outlet. Once it had heated, she began to comb Videls hair and then wrapped the curler in to a big strand of her hair just right of her fringe. She did this twice and then removed the curler, leaving Videl with a big curl in her hair and the rest of her hair just as straight as it was before.

"All done, now you're ready for the party" said Erasa.

Videl looked at herself in the handheld mirror, admiring her makeup and her hair before looking down and all around her body at the dress;

"I honestly don't know what to say Erasa" said Videl in an appreciative manner.

"You don't have to say anything, you deserve this, remember. Now, I've got to get my dress on then straighten my hair and we're ready" said Erasa.

"Right, let's get you ready then" said Videl.

Erasa had brought with her a long green dress that was flowing at the bottom around her ankles at the back but only went down past her knees at the front and two straps on her shoulders leaving her arms bare.

She then pulled out her straighteners from her bag and plugged them in to the same outlet that the curlers had previously been in. After waiting for them to heat up and chatting with Videl, she began straightening her hair and brushing through it to make sure there weren't any tangled ends and then straightening again.

After what seemed like an eternity, both girls were ready and made their way out of the room, each carrying a small purse and Erasa carrying her bag of tricks;

"Okay Chichi we're ready" said Videl as they approached the stairs.

Chichi emerged from her room with a long grey dress that reached to her ankles and short length sleeves and had also put on a white cardigan which she had left open.

"Great, let's get going" said Chichi as they all made their way downstairs.

As they reached the bottom, Chichi was able to see Hercule in the kitchen nursing a cup of coffee that he was staring down in the dark, never wavering from the hot liquid as the steam rose;

"You girls go on ahead and get the jet-copter ready, I'll just be a moment" said Chichi as she made her way in to the kitchen.

"Hey Hercule, how are you?" asked Chichi. Hercule looked up at Chichi, startled from his thoughts.

"Wha-oh, it's you Chichi. I'm...ok, I guess" was the weak reply from the former champ.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us tonight? It would be a great opportunity for you to just...relax" she said trying to persuade him.

"I appreciate it Chichi, really I do but...I think sitting here and collecting my thoughts is the best way for me to relax tonight, go on enjoy yourselves" he replied.

"Ok, call us if anything happens" said Chichi reluctantly.

"I will" he replied.

With that, Chichi left the kitchen and out through the front door, closing it behind her. Videl and Erasa had managed to clamber in to the jet copter, a thought that they hadn't considered about their method of travel. Chichi sweatdropped as she too hadn't thought of this.

Eventually, with all three of them in the jet copter, Videl closed the cockpit and powered up the engines and slowly the vehicle rose from the ground before gaining some serious altitude. Videl then swung the jet copter around until they were pointed in the direction of West City and motioned the controls forward to move the jet copter in that direction;

"West City here we come" said an excited Erasa.

"Yeah, let's go" said Videl.

"_I can't wait until you get a look at me Gohan. Don't think I've forgotten about how you were looking at me after getting my hair done, Kami knows what this will do to you" _thought Videl as the jet copter flew off in to the distance.

* * *

Sat in the kitchen of the small house was the same man who had declined to go to the party, still staring down the coffee which had now gone cold. He'd been pondering what he was going to do for some time, finally though he had made up his mind and taking a long drawn out sigh, stood from the table and poured out the coffee, rinsing the cup he had used.

He made his way in to the sitting room and took his bag of clothes and other items and placed the bag on to the couch. He then pulled an envelope from his pocket and placed it next to his bag;

"I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me Videl" he said aloud to himself as he left the room and made his way out of the door.

He locked the door with the spare key that Chichi had left for him to lock himself in with, only he locked himself out and then posted the key back through the letterbox. He turned to face away from the home and looked around for something which took him a moment to find in the dark before spotting his destination;

"Well...I guess it's time" he said to himself before starting off in the direction of the cliff.

* * *

Thanks for the wait, it'll probably be the end of February or March before another chapter is likely to come out so go read something else (preferably by me ^^)


	11. Chapter 11: Introductions

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT or Dragonball Super, any of it's film adaptations or the manga.

* * *

**Chapter 11**

Somewhere high in the clouds, Gohan and Goten were making their way towards West City for Bulma's party, the wind rushing through their faces and past their ears as they could see the world below them between the clouds;

"Woah...I sometimes forget just how wonderful everything looks from up here" Gohan said aloud to himself.

"Hey Gohan!" said Goten.

"Hmm? What's up Goten?" asked Gohan.

"I was wondering, why is Mr Satan not coming to the party tonight?" asked the innocent boy.

"Oh, well he and Videl aren't exactly on speaking terms right now so...he decided to stay home instead" explained Gohan.

"How come they ain't talkin' to each other?" asked Goten, confused as to why.

"Do you remember the day that the news said that Mr Satan didn't beat Cell?" Gohan answered with his own question.

"Uhhh...I think so?" said a confused Goten.

"Well, Videl didn't know that Mr Satan didn't beat Cell and she's really upset about it" replied Gohan.

"Why is she upset about that though? Wouldn't that mean that all those people who bug her all the time will go away?" Goten continued with his question.

'_Sheesh, what's with all the questions Goten' _thought Gohan.

"You see, for a number of years now, Videl has been proud of the fact her dad beat Cell and she's kinda got a bit of a reputation for being his daughter. Think of it like this Goten, what if someone said I never really beat Cell and that it was someone else?" he asked his brother.

"I'd tell them that they were wrong and that my big brother is the strongest in the whole world" replied Goten.

"Exactly, Videl is the same way, she's believed her dad beat Cell and now, suddenly someone else says he didn't and it all turns out to be true" Gohan continued with his example and explanation.

"I think I get it now" said Goten.

"Good, now remember, Videl and her friends don't know I beat Cell so keep it to yourself tonight, got it?" he half asked, half told his brother.

"Got it Gohan" replied Goten.

As the two boys finished their discussion, they looked ahead to see West City come in to view, the bustling city was lively as ever, skyscrapers all around and lots and lots of futuristic touches here and there like holograms and intercity travel tubes;

"Okay Goten, we'd better set down on the outskirts" Gohan said to his little brother.

"Ok" replied Goten.

Once they had touched down and checked that the coast was clear, they set off towards their destination of Capsule Corps. Gohan remembered that they had to get Sharpner first on their way so he took a detour from the direction that Capsule Corps was located in. This surprised Goten enough to ask;

"Hey Gohan, why are we going this way?"

"We need to go get my friend Sharpner on the way, Bulma said it was ok for him to come" replied Gohan.

"Oh...okay" said Goten as he continued walking alongside his brother with his regular cheery demeanor showing.

After their ten minute detour, Gohan noticed Sharpner sitting on a bench across the road, sporting a fancy dress shirt with the top button undone and a pair of black dress pants and shiny dress shoes.

"Hey Sharpner" called Gohan, garnering his friends attention.

"Wassup Brains" the blonde boy called back as he stood and made his way safely across the street.

"Looking good" said Gohan.

"Well I've gotta impress the ladies after all" said a delusional Sharpner.

"Hehe yeah sure. Oh, this is my brother Goten. Goten, this is Sharpner" said Gohan introducing his friend and brother to each other.

"Hi" said Goten as he looked up to the tall boy.

"'Sup" replied Sharpner.

"Right, let's get going" said Gohan as the three boys made their way back in the direction of Capsule Corps.

Whilst on their way, Sharpner was curious as to how they got invited in the first place and decided to enquire;

"So Gohan, how exactly did you manage to get an invite to dinner anyway? And how were you able to get me and the girls invites as well?" asked the tall blonde.

"Hmm? Didn't I tell you at school? Bulma's my Godmother so it was nothing special" replied Gohan with the trademark Son grin.

"W-What? She's your Godmother? Well I guess that's how you get an invite then huh" he remarked out loud.

"As for how you all got invites, Videl and Erasa met Bulma last weekend and were just invited because they knew me. You were a late addition but I know Bulma wouldn't mind" Gohan explained.

"A late addition? I can't believe you guys would have gone without me" replied a sullied Sharpner.

"Hehe aww don't be so down, tonight'll be a blast" said Gohan as the trio continued on their way.

Gohan didn't know it but he was right on the money when he said tonight was going to be a blast.

* * *

The three boys stopped just outside the main gate and surveyed the vast amount of land that was occupied by Capsule Corps. As Sharpner was standing in awe, Gohan had pressed a buzzer on the main gate and awaited a reply over an intercom that was built in;

"Welcome to Capsule Corps. Please state your name and business" said a friendly voice over the intercom.

"It's Gohan" was all he said.

"Welcome back Gohan, please make your way inside" said the friendly voice.

"Whoa, that was so cool" exclaimed Sharpner.

"Nah, this is a regular thing for me" said Gohan.

"So cool…" said Sharpner still in a bit of disbelief.

Upon reaching the front doors which were automatic sliding doors, the trio walked in to the reception area and up to the desk;

"Oh hey Gohan" said the lively young receptionist.

"Hey, we're just here for Bulma's party" replied Gohan.

"Of course, just head straight on through to the family quarters" she replied.

"Thanks" replied Gohan as he led Goten and Sharpner through to the family area.

They walked for a couple of minutes, as it was Capsule Corps after all, before they finally found themselves inside the family quarters of the massive company grounds.

Upon entering the large garden area, Gohan scanned around the area and found Bulma chatting away with Krillin and 18, whilst away in the far end was Marron being chased by Trunks. Goten immediately made a bee-line for Trunks and Marron, leaving Gohan and Sharpner to head over to the table where Bulma and Krillin were sat before they were noticed;

"Hey Gohan, glad you showed up" shouted Krillin as the two boys were still making their way across to them.

"Hey Krillin, nice to see you again. Hey Bulma, it's great to see you" said Gohan as they approached the stood to meet them;

"Hi Gohan, it's great to see you too" said Bulma as she embraced her Godson in a hug.

"And I take it this is your friend Sharpner, right?" she half said, half asked towards the blonde.

"Uh...y-yes ma'am" said Sharper as he took the offered hand gently and shook it in greeting, trying not to be rude and certainly trying not to stare. Bulma, in all her glory, was wearing a baby blue dress which was showing just a little cleavage and hugged all her curves perfectly

"Hehe, please just call me Bulma" said Bulma in return.

"Hey how you doing" said Krillin as he too approached the two boys, shaking hands with Sharpner. Krillin was sporting a dark blue suit and brown shoes, however had left his jacket draped on the back of his chair and the black tie he had on already discarded and in one the jacket's inside pockets.

"The name's Krillin and this here is my wife, 18" said Krillin as 18 joined him at his side. 18, phew, 18 was nothing short of a bombshell. She was wearing a black dress like Chichi, only hers had shoulder straps instead of short sleeves and was a little shorter...okay alot shorter than Chichis, stopping at her mid thigh (whilst standing), her cleavage also slightly on show.

"A pleasure" said 18 in her monotone voice.

"Pleased to meet ya" said Sharpner towards the small group, again trying his best not to oogle and be polite.

The group began chatting away, taking a seat at the table once more and discussed things from recent events and news, all the way back to the good ol' days.

After a short while, they were joined by some more people in the form of Master Roshi and Oolong and just at the back of them were Yamcha and Puar. With the newcomers joining the party, they began to spread out in to small groups between three tables, each having their own conversations.

Sharpner, not knowing anybody really, mainly stuck to being with Gohan although he did recognise Yamcha being the famous baseball player that he was, wearing his signature white martial arts top as he usually did, and had been able to strike up conversation with him relatively easily.

Master Roshi, whilst still being a lecherous old pervert in his usual hawain style shirt, shorts and sunglasses along with his wooden staff and turtle shell, was somehow maintaining a pleasant conversation with Bulma and Krillin. How long it was going to last for however, was anyone's guess.

Puar and Oolong spent some time catching up with each other and Gohan had been helping keep the kids entertained for a while. Gohan did eventually excuse himself though to get changed as he had not gotten dressed whilst at home and had instead opted to get ready at Bulma's. His reason for doing this? A very simple one, in fact, it was about to rear its head as he was heading for his private room;

"Brat!" came the annoyed growl of Vegeta, clad in his usual spandex and armour.

"Oh, hey Vegeta, how've you been?" asked Gohan, slightly nervous at what he suspected was about to happen next.

"How have I been? In pain, why you ask? It's because I've not gone soft and stopped training like the weakling you are" yelled Vegeta. Yeah, exactly what Gohan thought was going to happen, the next part was the biggest reason he hadn't gotten ready before coming over;

"Now, I need a good spar, get your ass in the gravity room now! Before I drag you in myself" ordered an annoyed Vegeta.

Gohan sighed and accepted his fate, marching down the hallway towards the gravity room. This was going to be a long night he could already tell.

* * *

The yellow jetcopter touched down on the outskirts of the Capsule Corps grounds, the engines winding down as the cockpit opened up and allowed the three ladies to exit the vehicle. Videl pressed a button to close the cockpit then pressed another button to capsulize the jetcopter once more.

"Alright girls, we're here. Now remember Videl, the people in here are very accepting and won't judge you for who your father is. You'll do great" said Chichi.

"Thanks Chichi" replied Videl with just a slight tinge of embarrassment.

The three ladies made their way in the same way that Gohan had, via the front gate and the reception area and, just like Gohan had done, they waltzed right through the reception area and towards the living quarters.

Upon arriving there, Chichi had stepped in and made her way towards the groups of people who were already gathered. Videl and Erasa followed behind by a few paces, whilst Videl took a few calming breaths to steady her nerves, she was afterall, expecting the worst just like anywhere else she had been.

It was a relief when she had seen Krillin and 18, as well as Master Roshi and of course, Bulma. She knew all these people and knew that they weren't going to judge her so that was one less thing to worry about. Now she just had to win over the other people she hadn't met yet, even though not everyone had arrived yet.

Tien and Chiaotzu had yet to turn up, though they had assured Krillin that they would be there, and Piccolo and Dende hadn't arrived yet either, not that she even knew who these people were anyway. She was brought out of her revery when Bulma had approached the girls;

"Hey Videl, Erasa, welcome to the party" said Bulma.

"Thanks Bulma" said both girls in unison.

"C'mon, I'll introduce you to some people, then I'll give you that grand tour we spoke about before, then we'll get started on dinner" she said.

"Sounds great" said Erasa, whilst Videl merely shook her head up and down to indicate her agreement.

Bulma escorted the two girls to the table where Sharpner was still sat talking with Yamcha who noticed their approach and cut his conversation short;

"Oh hey Bulma, thanks for the invite to the party" he said.

"Glad you could come Yamcha. I'd like to introduce you to some more of Gohan's friends, this is Erasa and Videl" she said as she gestured to each girl respectively

"It's nice to meet you" said Erasa as she politely bowed then gave a small wave to Sharpner to say hi.

"The pleasure's mine. I'm just glad the kid has some friends" said Yamcha with a smile adorning his face.

'_He doesn't know who I am, YET, anyway' _thought Videl.

"And of course you already know Sharpner. And this is Puar and Oolong" said Bulma as she gestured to the two shapeshifting creatures.

"It's very nice to meet you" said Puar.

"A pleasure" said Oolong before turning back to Puar and continuing his conversation.

"I was just saying to Sharpner here what these shindigs are all about. Trust me you'll enjoy it, there's never a dull moment" said Yamcha. Bulma led the two girls to the next table.

"I'm led to believe that you already know everyone at this table Videl" said Bulma.

"Of course, it's nice to see everyone again" said Videl.

"It's nice to see you too Videl" replied Krillin.

"Likewise" said 18. Marron, having just rejoined the table just waved happily at the older girl, whilst Roshi just looked like he was staring off in to space.

"Erasa, this is Krillin and his wife 18 and their daughter Marron. And this is Master Roshi" Bulma introduced each person in turn and Erasa politely said hi to each of them.

"It's nice to meet you Erasa" said Krillin.

"Nice to meet you" said 18. Marron again just waved happily. Roshi didn't even budge, a strange reaction to say the least. Bulma wasn't sure but thought he was up to something but decided not to approach him just now, she'd let 18 deal with it instead.

"C'mon girls, since the others haven't arrived yet, let's go tour the place until the get here and then we'll finish the introductions before dinner" said Bulma as she led them out of the room.

"Um...excuse me b...but could I come too?" asked a weirdly shy Sharpner.

"Of course" beamed Bulma. Sharpner thanked Yamcha for the conversation then moved to catch up with the girls before they left the room.

* * *

The trio had tried to take in everything that they had seen so far but it was so, so much that they just couldn't comprehend it all. They'd seen things that they didn't even think were possible, some of the Capsule Corps were still trying to make possible but it was certainly a tour they wouldn't forget. They rounded a corner and made their way down the hallway as Bulma was finishing up her standard tour speech.

The trio came to a juncture where another hallway led to a door at the end;

"What's down there?" asked Erasa.

"Oh that! Well, it's top secret so I can't tell you what's behind it" said Bulma as suddenly an explosion could be heard from beyond the door.

"What was that?" asked a startled Sharpner.

"It's probably just my husband, he's...working on an experiment...of sorts" Bulma vaguely answered.

The trio seemed to be satisfied enough with that and continued down the original hallway;

"Bulma, do you mind if I ask where Gohan is? I haven't seen him since we got here" asked Videl.

"Last I saw brains, he was away to get changed but that was...like a good thirty or forty minutes ago" said Sharpner.

"Truthfully, I'm not one hundred percent certain but I think he's behind that door with my husband, going off the explosion we heard" explained Bulma. Videl's head snapped to the older woman;

"Wait, he's in there and there's explosions going off?" exclaimed Videl.

"It's alright, there's nothing to worry about, the type of experiment my husband is doing isn't going to harm Gohan. Plus, Gohan's the only person he trusts for this type of experiment, it's very...complicated shall we say" explained Bulma, hoping the three teenagers wouldn't pry any further.

"Are you sure?" asked Videl, still worried for Gohan's wellbeing.

"Trust me, if I didn't think Gohan could do it, I wouldn't even let him near this wing" said Bulma as she led them back to the main party.. This brought somewhat of a relief to Videl, though she still couldn't let all her worry disappear, seeing how much she cared for him after all.

* * *

"You've grown far too soft and weak like your father" snarled Vegeta as he lodged his boot in to the sternum of Gohan.

"Ugh" groaned Gohan as he went sent across the room before standing back up.

The two of them had been like this for the last quarter of an hour with Vegeta mainly having control of the sparring match the entire time. Gohan had had his moments and his speed was still better than Vegetas but he lacked experience in real fights and it still showed, even in practice.

As Gohan has used his speed to get around the back of Vegeta, ready to use a double axe-handle smash to his elders back, Vegeta merely grabbed the enclosed hands as they came down upon him, not entirely stopping the momentum but using it to his advantage by swinging his boot all the way around in a backflip and landing squarely on top of poor Gohan's head.

"Ouuuch" Gohan groaned again.

"Nice try but you're going to have to do better than that" said Vegeta smugly as he walked over to the control panel and turned up the gravity even more. He then transformed in to a Super Saiyan in order to keep up with the gravity in the room.

Gohan was currently being crushed by the gravity and had to force himself to Super Saiyan just to be able to push himself off the floor. Vegeta turned to him and smirked before phasing out of sight. Gohan however knew where he was coming from and met Vegeta's fist flying in from above before trying to retaliate with one of his own which was also met by Vegeta.

The two continued to push each other to their limits, Gohan's speed showing as well as his inexperience, Vegeta's insecurities and patience being tested;

"Gah, I've had enough" roared Vegeta as he had just received a particularly strong right hook from Gohan as he had kicked Gohan's ribs to create some distance. Vegeta then cupped his hands together in front of him;

"FINAL!"

"What? Are you serious? Guess I shouldn't be surprised" Gohan said aloud.

"KA-ME...HA-ME!"

"FLASHHHHHH!"

"HAAAAAAAAA!"

The two beams met each other in the middle of the room before a big explosion was created as they had both struggled to be the winner.

* * *

18 was looking at the old hermit, trying to figure out what it was he was doing. He hadn't said a word in a while and, whilst she wasn't really concerned about him, she was concerned about what he was likely thinking. She leaned over and quietly whispered in his ear;

"If you were eyeballing those young women, I swear I will castrate you in front of everyone here!"

"SO KRILLIN, FINE WEATHER WE'VE BEEN HAVING, HUH?" yelled the old hermit as the threat from the blonde haired woman hit home.

"Huh, what are you talking about? Your island is in the middle of the blaring sun and the ocean. The weather is always fine" said a confused Krillin as 18 sat back in her chair.

At that, the main doors to the room opened and in walked two very green looking people;

"Hey it's Piccolo and Dende. Hey guys, over here" shouted Krillin from afar.

"Not so loud, we're not deaf you know" replied the gruff voice of Piccolo.

"Whoops, my bad" said Krillin with a grin on his face.

"It's good to see you all again" said Dende as they had approached the tables.

"Likewise, it's been too long" said Yamcha as Dende merely nodded in response whilst the rest of the gathered people fell back in to conversation with Piccolo choosing to lean against a wall as he always did.

Bulma led the three teenagers back in to the room at the conclusion of their tour as she noticed the two newcomers;

"Oh, more introductions are in order" said Bulma, leading the trio to the two Namekians. The three teenagers were wide eyed when they had spotted the two green skinned people but tried their best to be polite;

"Kids, this is Dende" she said as she gestured to the shorter Namekian who was having a conversation at Krillin's table.

"Hi there, it's a pleasure to meet you" said the Guardian of the Earth.

"And that grouchy pooch over there is Piccolo" said Bulma as she pointed out the taller Namekian leaning against the wool.

"I am not an animal" replied Piccolo gruffly. Bulma giggled at his retort.

"Guys, this is Sharpner, Erasa and Videl" said Bulma, introducing the teenagers. Piccolo's eyes shot towards Videl but didn't say anything before closing his eyes and went back to his meditating that he was always doing.

"Oh so you're Videl, I've heard great things from Gohan" said Dende. In truth, he hadn't spoken to Gohan in a while but he kept tabs on Gohan's family from time to time and had recently done so, so he was relatively informed of what was happening currently.

"Really? I...hope they're all good?" she hesitated slightly but smiled and blushed all at once as she asked the question.

"Of course, Gohan doesn't have a bad thing to say about the people closest to him" replied Dende.

At this point, Chichi had stepped back in to the room. She had left earlier to drop off the food that she had prepared and to give the poor chefs in Bulma's kitchen a lecture on how to make truly great food.

"Ah Bulma there you are, it's really shaping up to be a wonderful party" said Chichi as she removed the imaginary wrinkles from her dress before taking a seat at a table.

"Yeah, it's been a while since we've had just about everyone turn up" replied Bulma.

"Videl, would you like to join us?" asked Chichi as she noticed the teenagers were basically left just standing there.

"Of course, thanks" replied Videl. Sharpner was whispering something in to Erasa's ear which had the blonder teenager blushing ever so slightly before she turned her had to look him in the eyes and he similarly looked at her in her blue eyes.

"C'mon, you two as well" said Chichi referring to the two blonde-haired teens.

"Ugh, thanks but if you don't mind, I'd like to go speak with Yamcha some more" replied Sharpner.

"Suit yourself" smiled Chichi.

"Thanks, later" he replied as he took another look at Erasa and they both smiled before Sharpner made his way back to Yamcha's table whilst Erasa made to sit at the table with Chichi, Bulma and Videl.

"So girls, how are you finding the party so far?" asked Chichi.

"Well, we haven't really had a conversation with anyone else yet but we did enjoy the tour, right Videl?" asked Erasa.

"Definitely, I could spend all day in here just looking around" said Videl.

"I can always arrange another tour sometime if you'd like" said Bulma.

"Really? That would be wonderful, thanks Bulma" said Videl with gratitude.

"No problem" replied Bulma.

"Hey Bulma!" said Piccolo as he walked over to the table, garnering their attention. It was only now Videl noticed how...intimidating his presence could be.

"Hmm? What's up Piccolo?" she asked confused that he had approached them.

"Did you ever get that...what was it you called it? Fire suppression system installed?" he asked wearily.

"Yeah, I just had it finished last week, why do you ask?" she replied with a confused expression.

"I think you're about to need it" he replied.

"What do you mean?" she asked again.

Her question needed no reply as just as that moment, an explosion rocked the entire room with everything not nailed down shaking wildly, though did not break or fall down.

Realization dawned on Bulma as she now knew what Piccolo had meant;

"THOSE IDIOTIC BABOONS" she yelled, standing from the table and slamming both her fists on the table.

"Geez Bulma, way to be racist" said Krillin from the far table.

"Don't you get me started baldy" she cried over the room as Krillin sweatdropped and shrunk back in his chair behind the table. 18 merely looked over to her husband and had a sly grin on her face, she was enjoying this too much.

Bulma however had already begun to march out of the room, making some expletive remarks under her breath. Videl and Erasa both looked on as everyone just fell back in to conversation and Piccolo returned to leaning against the wall;

"Are you two alright, you both look a little confused?" asked Chichi.

"No not at all, it's just when there's an explosion people tend to run and hide, ya know" said Erasa, whilst Videl merely nodded her head in agreement.

"Oh that was nothing, Bulma's husband has been known to cause explosions on many occasions. If it weren't for the fact that she's the richest and most powerful woman in the world, I doubt her company would ever get insurance" said Chichi.

"Wait! You said that Bulma's husband caused the explosion? Isn't that where Gohan is?" Videl asked, panic rising in her voice.

"Don't worry Videl, Gohan will be perfectly fine" replied Chichi.

"Yeah Videl, why are you so worried anyway" said Erasa with a teasing look in her eyes and tone from her voice. Videl looked at her best friend knowing that the blonde knew how she felt about Gohan but the boys mother didn't know that;

"N-no reason, I'm just concerned for my friend, that's all, hehe" said Videl, trying to hide the embarrassment in her voice.

"It's ok Videl, I know how you feel about Gohan" said Chichi.

"W-wait, what? What do you...I...I" was all Videl could stammer out as Chichi laughed lightly.

"Calm down Videl. You've been living under my roof for the last, what? Week or so and in all the time we've been in close quarters, you don't think I've seen the way you look at him? I can tell" said Chichi as she smiled at the young woman.

"Oh, I didn't realise it was that obvious" replied Videl as she looked down at the table.

"Don't worry, just have a good time tonight, you'll have plenty of time to talk to Gohan" replied Chichi.

"Thanks Chichi" replied Videl as she looked back to the older woman with a hint of happiness in her face.

"You're welcome dear. Now, in regards to conversation in this place, I'd recommend Yamcha, Krillin or Dende and certainly not the old pervert" said Chichi with a slight hint of disdain for the old turtle hermit.

As Chichi was giving the girls the advise, the moody Prince of all Saiyans walked in to the room, or rather was being marched in to the room by his better and prettier half. However, he wasn't in his usual attire but instead was sporting a salmon pink shirt and white trousers that Bulma had picked up for him, namely because he had destroyed the wardrobe that Bulma had previously picked out for him.

He chose to sit at a table that had nobody else at it, putting his foot up against the edge of the table and swinging in his chair and closing his eyes as if he were resting.

Videl merely looked at the man, surprised at his actions but realising that he had probably had a telling off for whatever he had done to cause the explosion, speaking of which, where was Gohan? He too had been with the man according to Bulma but had not returned. Her question wouldn't go long without an answer as Bulma sat back down at the table;

"Sorry about that, just had to ensure that my husband understands his place around here" said Bulma as a low growl could be heard from the next table.

"Good news though, the fire suppression system works and nobody was hurt" said Bulma.

"So where's Gohan then?" asked Erasa before her friend could fire the question off.

"Oh he's fine too, he's just getting changed for the party, he won't be long" replied Bulma.

'_Good, I'm glad he's fine, though I am curious as to what he was working on that was so dangerous as to cause an explosion that large. Still, he'd better be fine or I'll make him hurt for worrying me like that'_ thought Videl.

She was brought out of her thoughts when the doors opened and in walked a tall bald man and a short man, no, boy? Either way, they were floating...yeah, floating...as in not walking. This really confused Videl and Erasa, how was he doing that?

"Tien! How you doing?" yelled Krillin from across the room. The duo walked in to the room and approached the tables, a smile adoring Tien's normally emotionless face;

"It's good to see you all, I'm doing just fine thanks" replied Tien.

"Hey Krillin, good to see you again" said Chiaotzu.

"Hey, Chiaotzu it's great to see you too buddy" replied Krillin happily.

"Hey Tien, Chiaotzu, how you been!" shouted Yamcha from his table.

"Yamcha, it's great seeing you again" replied Tien, as Chiaotzu nodded his head in acknowledgement.

The two newcomers exchanged their pleasantries before heading over to the table with the four ladies;

"Bulma, Chichi, it's nice to see you again" said Tien politely.

"Hey Tien, thanks for coming" replied Bulma.

"It's really nice to see you too Tien" said Chichi. Tien and Chiaotzu looked at the two teenage girls in confusion;

"Oh where are our manners. Tien, Chiaotzu, this is Erasa and Videl. They're friends of Gohan" explained Chichi.

"Gohan's friends, well if that's the case, you must mean a great deal to him" said Tien with a small smile on his face.

Erasa smiled while Videl just blushed. Before anything else could be said, Tien looked up to Vegeta who was merely scowling at the bald man;

"Hey Vegeta!" Tien said.

"What?" replied the harsh tone of Vegeta.

"...nice shirt" said Tien.

Vegeta's eye twitched. He wanted to hurt the man so badly but firstly, his wife would never forgive him and secondly, it was hardly worth the challenge, so he did the only thing he could do, he harrumphed and looked away. Tien merely smirked, knowing that he had gotten one up on the proud ass.

As the conversations went on, the seating arrangements changed slightly. Tien had sat down with Yamcha and Sharpner, whilst Krillin had joined them.

Bulma and Chichi had moved to sit with 18 and Roshi and Vegeta had moved, more so out of boredom and took up the space next to Piccolo, also leaning against the wall with his eyes closed.

Dende had moved to sit with Videl and Erasa. The two girls seemed a bit uneasy at first, but realised very quickly that Dende was very personable and easy to get along with, in fact it was far too easy to get along with him that they hadn't even noticed when the doors opened again and in walked Gohan.

* * *

Gohan, having cleaned himself up had gotten ready in the sharp looking suit that his mother had kindly bought him. It was a black three piece suit, trousers, jacket and waistcoat, with red lining throughout and had been tailored for him so fit him just nicely. He never liked anything that showed his physique in anyway but as his mother was buying it, he couldn't say no and didn't argue about how it looked.

He then made his way down the hall and through the doors where everyone else was waiting for dinner to be served. Upon entering, he scanned the room, noticing at first all of his friends and family who had gathered, some he hadn't seen in a long time, others he had seen recently, some as little as ten minutes ago.

Eventually his eyes settled on one particular table. He noticed Dende in his usual garb and staff talking to two young ladies. The first, with blonde hair and a green dress, seemed to be the more talkative of the trio at the table. Although he never thought of her that way, Gohan couldn't deny the attractiveness of Erasa, however that thought was abruptly pushed to the side as he looked slightly further right.

There, also sat at the table was Videl, in a red cheongsam with a golden floral design which looked to Gohan as if it flowed around the dress as it appeared to both be at the top and bottom of the front of the dress with the midsection missing. Her hair had already been done by Erasa previously and ended up being in a bob previously but now, there was a curly added just to the right of her fringe and she was wearing a small amount of makeup, nothing too fancy but it really made her eyes stand out. Those Cerulean blue orbs...which he realised as he had made his way towards the table were now locked on to his.

Videl had only caught sight of Gohan as he was midway towards the table but what she saw stunned her. Gohan only ever wore baggy clothes so she had never really seen his physique but this suit he was wearing was really showing just what type of a body he had.

'_Surely he must workout but he's never been gone long enough to workout'_ thought Videl.

The suit he was wearing made him look very dapper, handsome even...yeah, definitely handsome in her eyes, speaking of eyes, she looked at his deep onyx eyes to go along with the black suit he was wearing and she could just see slight glimpses of the red lining of his suit. He was...perfect.

* * *

So my last update said that I wouldn't likely get this out until the end of February or some time in March. As fate would have it, I had a sick day today so, I spent a fair portion of it on this story. Although this does feel a bit rushed so apologies if it's rough around the edges or could have done with more beta/proof reading.


	12. Chapter 12: Interrupting Kami says Gohan

Hello again everyone. Sorry it's been so long for an update, I promise I haven't forgotten about you all, times are very hard I understand. Unfortunately I've been working from home for the last 3 weeks so sitting in front of a laptop for 8 hours a day has drained me from wanting to write as much. Prior to that, my time was very limited so it's been hard to find the time to write, especially since I go the last chapter out much earlier than I expected.

More than half this chapter was written in a single day and is being uploaded at around 3.30am so apologies for any spelling or grammar mistakes you may find in this chapter, I simply don't have the energy to read the whole thing and check it but I will come back to it later and try to find and fix any small mistakes that I find.

As Always:

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT or Dragonball Super, any of it's film adaptations or the manga.

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Gohan approached the table with his friends chatting away to the Guardian of the Earth. He was preoccupied however with the beauty that was Videl sitting there all prim and proper, something he himself didn't think he would ever see from the raven haired beauty but here she was.

"Hey everyone. Hey Dende, it's good to see you again" announced Gohan as he approached the table.

"Gohan, it's good to see you again too, it's been too long" replied Dende.

"Yeah I know, I should probably visit more often" replied Gohan with the signature Son grin across his face.

Videl and Erasa merely watched the interaction with curiosity. Whilst they had conversed with the short green man and found him to be nice and polite, they wanted to know how Gohan came to know such...interesting people. Normally Videl would have been all over this like an interrogation, however she had mellowed out somewhat and didn't jump to all the same conclusions and assumptions that she used to. It was probably just down to tiredness, tired of running from the world, tired of running from the truth and, albeit lower on the list, tired of running from her emotions.

Both girls continued listening to the two chat away looking for an opening in to which they could rejoin the conversation. It would seem Dende had noticed this almost immediately;

"Sorry ladies, where are our manners. I would be happy to hear more about your life and it's adventures" said Dende. Truthfully he could already tell what both of their lives were filled with, still he wanted to let them join the conversation for the sake of Gohan having a normal conversation just once.

Gohan had picked up on this once Dende had finished speaking and had finally sat down at the table. To Gohan's left was Dende, his right Erasa and across from him sat Videl. As he was drawing his seat back in to sit on, he looked up and directly across the table to see Videl looking at him, her blue eyes connecting with his onyx ones just as a small smile adorned her face which he returned.

"You look beautiful in that, both of you do" said Gohan as he addressed Videl and then Erasa, not wanting to look like he was playing favourites whilst in reality he already had his favourite.

Videl blushed at the compliment but before she could say anything, her bubbly friend jumped in first;

"Oh stop it Gohan, you do know how to make a girl blush, look Videl's already blushing" said Erasa, a sly smirk on her face as she looked towards her best friend.

"What? No it's...just warm in here, hehe" replied an embarrassed Videl.

"Hehe, so Gohan what were you up to?" asked Erasa.

"Oh, I was just helping Vegeta with an experiment of sorts" he replied.

"What was that explosion? I hope you didn't get hurt!" said Videl in a concerned manner.

"Hehe nah, I'm ok. It was just some...elements that shouldn't have come together" said Gohan in the typical Son grin.

"Good, I'm glad" replied Videl with a smile adorning her face.

Dende and Erasa both looked across the table and smiled at each other, knowing just exactly how the two dark haired teens felt about each other.

As the party continued with much chatter and hilarity ensuing, dinner was eventually served and everyone was moved to another room with a long dining table where everyone had chosen their seats carefully.

Sitting at the head of the table was of course, the Prince of all Saiyans, Vegeta. On his immediate right and starting down the way was Bulma, followed by Chichi and Videl, Sharpner then Yamcha, Krillin and Tien with Roshi at the other end/foot of the table.

On the other side, next to Roshi sat 18 with Marron on her lap, then Dende (even though he didn't require anything other than water), then Chiaotzu with Erasa sitting on his right, then Gohan seated across from Videl (a happy coincidence) then Goten and Trunks right before it went back to Vegeta.

As the food was being served, Bulma decided to make a short speech to the table;

"Before we start digging in, I just want to thank you all for coming here. It's been too long since we were all gathered together and were able to just talk and enjoy each other's company. I'd also like to thank Gohan's friends for coming, words which I'm sure most of us never dreamt of hearing" said Bulma with a jovial smile on her face.

"Aww c'mon that's no fair" pouted Gohan. Erasa, Videl and Sharpner merely giggled at his reply.

"Be that as it may, I don't want there to be any trouble tonight" she said, throwing some glares at a few people in particular, "and I want many pictures, alright. Lastly, once all the food is out, you four are to wait until everyone else has filled their plates, understood" she finished by pointing and glaring at the four Saiyans all bunched up to one end of the table.

"Aww but mom, why?" groaned Trunks.

"Yeah c'mon Auntie Bulma" moaned Goten.

Vegeta looked incredulous at this wife and Gohan groaned as well but at least he understood why and was accepting of it;

"Because you four could eat anyone out of house and home and if it weren't for the fact that we could feed a dozen small armies, you'd have starved by now" replied the Billionairess.

"Okay" replied the young Saiyans in unison, Gohan giving a nod and Vegeta growled;

"The Prince of all Saiyans will wait for no one" he replied.

"You'll wait or you'll get one meal a day for the next week" came Bulma's scathing reply.

'_Saiyan? I wonder what that is? I'll have to ask Gohan later' _thought Videl.

All the food was finally laid out on the table and as instructed, everyone bar the four Saiyans grabbed food and piled their plates as much as they were willing.

"Alright everyone, dig in!" exclaimed Bulma.

What followed was the craziest sites that one did ever see at a dinner table. Gohan, Goten, Trunks and Vegeta had piled their plates so fast that almost nobody could see it and had begun to chow down so much food that it was a site to either behold or barf at.

Videl, Sharpner and Erasa had seen Gohan eat previously but watching all four Saiyans going at the same time was something that they weren't prepared for;

"You kids better eat up, the longer you watch this the more likely you'll be put off your own food" said Chichi.

"Oh, right" replied all three teens as they started eating their food.

Gohan did at least try to calm down with his pace but every so often would forget himself and would be right back at it.

The food consumption wasn't lost on the rest of the table as Krillin and Yamcha both sweatdropped at the sight of the four hungry Saiyans;

"My God, you Saiyans are all a bunch of slobs" said Krillin.

"Yeah, I mean...ugh you know what, I'm not even gonna ask anymore" said Yamcha.

'_There it is again, Saiyan, what is that word and moreso, __**what's**_ _a Saiyan?'_ Videl thought once more.

"Excuse me, Gohan. What's a Saiyan?" asked Videl.

Gohan stopped and looked up at Videl, wide-eyed not knowing how to answer this. This was a topic he was going to broach at some point, right in front of his friends and family however was not where he wanted it to be.

"Erm...well...you see" he stumbled out before being cut off.

"Hah, the boy doesn't even have the balls to tell his mate, pathetic" said Vegeta, annoyed that someone would bother asking questions during meal times.

"Vegeta!" said an angry Bulma.

"To answer your question Videl, it's...an inside joke of sorts, a term to describe the four...gluttons sitting across the table from you" said Chichi who didn't look very convincing during her explanation.

Videl looked to Vegeta then back to Gohan and then Chichi before settling back on Gohan;

"Okay, if you say so" said Videl.

'_Something's not right, Chichi is being oddly suspicious and Gohan's clammed up. He only does that if he's uncomfortable with saying something. I'll ask him later, maybe he's embarrassed or something'_ thought Videl.

"The Prince of all Saiyans will not be called a joke!" yelled Vegeta looking over at Chichi.

"Oh please!" said Chichi just waving him off. Vegeta merely grunted, speaking before going back to his food;

"Brat!" he said in an aggressive tone.

All three half Saiyans stopped and looked at the Prince before pointing to themselves in question:

"Tch, the oldest brat" he annoyingly corrected.

"Y-yes Vegeta?" asked Gohan as Goten and Trunks went back to their food.

"Tomorrow, 6am" was all Vegeta said. Gohan seemed to understand with a nod of his head before continuing to eat.

"Wait, 6am for what?" asked Erasa.

"Oh, he wants to spar with me" replied Gohan.

"No, if I wanted to spar I'd have asked the Namek over there" replied Vegeta as he pointed with a fork towards Piccolo who was leaning against a wall. Why he decided to use the fork at this point was anyone's guess, "I'm just going to straight up kick his ass" said Vegeta.

"I'd love to see you try" mumbled Gohan under his breath, something which was caught by the older Saiyan;

"What was that brat?!" said Vegeta as he glared in Gohan's direction with one eyebrow cocked up, daring Gohan to speak out again.

"N-nothing, just said 'looking forward to it'" replied Gohan, trying his best to not cause a fight with Vegeta after Bulma said no trouble.

"Hmph" was all Vegeta mustered before going back to his food again.

The dinner continued on and before everyone knew it the food was all gone, some faces stuffed more than others.

Afterwards they decided to move the party in to the garden area whilst the table and chairs and plates and cutlery were all cleaned up by the automated systems that Bulma had in place.

* * *

The garden area was massive and looked to be bigger than inside the complex that they had just left. If it weren't for the fact they could see the glass dome around them, they could have sworn that they were truly outside in a forest or a jungle area, what with all the tamed wildlife around them.

There were a few benches and tables set up for the party to sit at or around. There were also a few sun loungers kicking about, although why was anyone's guess as the sun had set some time ago and the moonlight lit up most of the garden area, save for about thirty feet around the benches where there was some low light to set the mood for the evening.

The seating arrangement had been pretty much the same as the pre-dinner seating arrangements with the only differences being Vegeta and Roshi both laying out on the sun loungers.

Sharpner had found himself sitting with Krillin, Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu as they were all talking about some past glories including the World Martial Arts Tournament.

"It's crazy to think I'm sitting here with living legends," exclaimed Sharpner.

"Well I guess we do kinda bring a reputation with us" joked Krillin as the rest of the table laughed.

"What about you Sharpner? Thinking of entering any future tournaments yourself?" asked Tien to the surprise of the others.

"Oh yeah, absolutely. I used to be one the best students at Mr Satan's dojo but then...well ya know" said Sharpner drifting off at the end. No other words needed to be said, everyone knew what he meant.

"Well why don't we see what you're made of, give you some pointers" offered Krillin.

"R-really?" said Sharpner with a bit of a startle, his eyes widening at the offer before him.

"Sure, c'mon we can head over to the grass over here" said Krillin as he moved to stand from the table. The rest of the table did so and made their way on to the grass just slightly away from the tables and benches seeing as the light level wasn't great that far away.

"Okay, first things first" said Krillin as he and Tien both took up stances that looked like a teacher giving out instructions. Chiaotzu and Yamcha stood off to the side with their arms crossed just watching on with intrigue.

"Let's see your fighting stance" Krillin asked. Sharpner wavered for a moment, pondering whether to use the stance that he learned at the Satan dojo. He didn't really have much of a choice, he had managed to pidgeon-hole himself in to that fighting style so reluctantly he took up the stance.

"I'll say this about Mr Satan, he at least did know his martial arts" said Tien to the surprise of some people, however they all knew what he was referring to.

"The stance you have there worked very well for him and for big muscly guys like yourself, however there is a glaring drawback to this fighting style which you still could overcome. Wanna take a guess at what it is?" asked Tien.

Sharpner thought for a moment before answering;

"That the style isn't tailored to fit my style?" he replied.

"In a way yes. He took what he knew and tried to apply it to everyone. The problem with that, is that not everyone is around 6'2" and built the way he is" replied Krillin.

"You're a bit shorter than he is so the problem isn't really noticeable. What I was specifically referring to was speed. Thanks to his training and conditioning he was able to maintain a relatively fast pace for his style of fighting which threw off a lot of his opponents. However, even a weaker fighter could beat him if they simply outmatched his speed. If his opponent could strike faster than he could and dodge his attacks, they would simply wear him down until he couldn't continue" explained Tien.

"And that's the advantage you have. Still being young, you can switch up your training and focus on speed and endurance rather than pure muscle. The added benefit of this is that you'll be able to continue working the muscle groups you've already worked but also the ones you don't work. You'll see great benefits from it, trust me. Now, try throwing a straight punch at me" said Krillin.

"W-wait? Really?" stuttered Sharpner.

"Yeah of course, don't worry you won't hurt me" replied Krillin.

"Ok then" said Sharpner hesitantly.

He moved within striking distance of Krillin and threw a straight punch at Krillin, being mindful to not put his full power behind the punch (after all, he didn't want to actually connect).

In the blink of an eye, Krillin's hand had pushed Sharpener's fist away and his palm was now sitting right up against his neck;

"You see, while you have power, it'll do no good if you don't have the speed to make the move stick. The same goes for other bulky opponents who prioritize strength over speed, thinking that they only need to land one good hit to end the match but that's not what martial arts is all about" explained Krillin as he lowered his hand.

"Wow, I've sure got a lot to learn huh?" said Sharpner, somewhat bewildered as he retracted his fist.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll figure it out as you go. Now, let's see what else we can do to help" said Krillin.

* * *

Videl had been watching the encounter with most of the male populace with some interest. She realised that she had kind of left Krillin hanging with the whole training thing that they were meant to be doing but, then again there had been a few extenuating circumstances which had put things on hold for the moment. She had ought to apologise to him again and reaffirm her dedication to training but that was for another time.

Turning back to her table, she was currently sat with Erasa on her left with Bulma on the other side of her blonde friend. Across from her was Gohan and on his right was Chichi. Just directly right of Chichi sat 18 who had her eyes on the three kids who were playing a little bit away from the table. Despite the low lighting, she could see them perfectly well with her enhanced vision.

Her best friend was currently living her dream right now talking away to the most powerful woman in the world, well...influential would probably be the correct word. She looked at Chichi who was engrossed in the conversation as well, though truth be told, Videl hadn't paid enough attention and wasn't really sure what was being said.

Her eyes then darted right slightly to see Gohan also enthralled in the conversation, though knowing the tall teen, he was probably just being polite. She then noticed his eyes glance away and towards herself before a smile appeared on his face. Videl reciprocated with a smile of her own which Chichi noticed but kept to herself, ah to be young again.

Videl eventually caught up with the conversation...fashion, ugh of all things why did it have to be fashion, although Videl was surprised slightly with how this conversation had turned out;

"Wow, I never knew Capsule Corp was so diversified" exclaimed Erasa.

'_Diversified, where the hell did she learn that? I guess some of Gohan rubbed off on her' _thought Videl.

"Yeah, you name it we've probably got a hand in it somewhere" replied Bulma.

"So where exactly can I find designs that you've made personally?" asked the bubble blonde.

"That I've made personally? Hmm...honestly not many places, turns out not everyone is in to my taste which is why I have a small team of experts now who do it for me. Do you want to know a very rare piece of trivia though?" asked Bulma. Erasa nodded her head up and down, she was all ears trying to take in every crumb of information she could.

"The dress that Videl's wearing was actually designed by Chichi" announced Bulma.

Videl snapped to attention at hearing that. She was wearing a dress that Chichi designed? No way!

"Really? You designed this?" asked Videl looking in awe at the Son matriarch.

"Yes, it was some time ago mind you but not very many of them sold, apparently it was a little bit too old fashioned for most places" replied Chichi.

"If I'm not mistaken didn't you also design one with a dragon, except it was a black dress and the design and trim were turquoise? I recall modelling it for you a while back" said 18 from out of nowhere.

"Yeah but that tanked even more. In fact I think you still own the only one that was made" said Chichi.

"Huh, what a shame. I like it" replied 18.

"Well I think it looks gorgeous," said Bulma as she looked at Videl, just before noticing Gohan staring for just a bit too long and then deciding to have a little fun of her own, "doesn't she Gohan?" Bulma then asked the teen, catching him by surprise.

"Huh, oh I-I-I er...I mean, o-of-of course" said Gohan as he went red in the face from embarrassment. Bulma giggled as did Erasa, Chichi smirked as she too was having fun at her son's expense. Even 18 had a smile but hers was a bit more of a genuine smile rather than having fun at the teen's expense. Videl blushed too, for obvious reasons;

"Thanks" she managed bashfully with a smile. Gohan just smiled.

"Say Erasa, do you wanna see the room where my fashion team works?" asked Bulma.

"O-of course!" yelled Erasa, a little too loudly making some of the others wince.

"Great, c'mon" said Bulma as she stood up and led the blonde teen back in to the building.

"Say 18, wanna go over and help those thick headed idiots teach that poor boy how to really fight?" asked Chichi.

"Sure" said 18 in her monotone voice but with a smirk on her face.

As they left, Chichi looked at Gohan and caught his eyes but for a moment. A moment however was all she needed to get the message clear across to him.

Suddenly it had gone quiet as both teens had been left at the table and neither had struck up a conversation yet. They both kept looking at each other, then looking away again only to look back at each other with a smile adorning their face and light blushes each time.

"So...are you enjoying the party?" asked Gohan.

"Y-yeah, it's been great. I enjoy talking to your friends and family...well almost all of them" Videl said as she twisted her head around to look at the dormant form of Vegeta on the sun lounger.

"I heard that" he replied, not looking over to them or even opening his eyes.

"Hehe, yeah but that's just Vegeta" replied Gohan. Videl chuckled at that.

"Tell me Gohan, what did you think when you first saw me this evening?" asked Videl, slightly embarrassed at how she was acting but also acting like her normal self, with the confidence that she had missed for a while but had slowly regained over the last week or so.

"Oh...uh...I…" he started to stammer out.

"Hehe, it's ok Gohan, I'm messing with you" said Videl.

'_Although, I really would like to know what you thought' _thought Videl.

"Heheh, good one Videl" said Gohan who was mentally relieved.

They both fell in to a slightly awkward silence before Gohan had an idea;

"Hey Videl, I know Bulma's already given you a tour of the place but...do you want another tour...you know...of some of the places Bulma hasn't shown you?" he asked her hesitantly.

Videl thought for a moment about what he was asking. It sure sounded like he was asking her on a date but yeah, it really wasn't a date. It was just a guy accompanying a girl for a guided tour, that's all. Yeah, nothing more than that...right?

"Sure Gohan, I'd love to see more of this place" replied Videl, making sure not to hesitate for too long.

"Great" beamed Gohan.

He stood up from the table as did Videl and they both made their way towards the building.

Chichi noticed this from the corner of her eye, a small smile making its way on to her face;

'_My little boy is growing up so fast. Soon I'll have grandkids just like I always wanted" _thought Chichi.

* * *

As they had entered the building, Gohan offered his arm for Videl to take. She looked at his arm for a moment, surprised but at the same time not really surprised since Gohan was such a gentleman after all. She looped her arm in his and allowed herself to be guided along the hallways.

"There's two places I think that you'd really rather like which I'm kinda sure Bulma wouldn't have shown you" said Gohan.

"Sounds good" replied Videl.

They made their way through the complex as Gohan pointed out various rooms and areas, most of which Videl had already seen. Eventually they stopped by a room which Gohan was sure Videl was going to like;

"So I thought about it and I'm sure that this will be your second favourite room you'll see tonight" said Gohan as they approached the door.

"Oh really, why do you say that?" asked Videl.

"You'll see" said Gohan with a devilish smirk on his face.

He reached for the door knob and gave it a twist before pushing the door open and stepping through. He found a light switch and flicked it down, the lights bursting to life. He stepped further in to allow Videl a chance to walk in as well and once she was through the door, she took in the whole room and was amazed at what she could see.

It appeared that they had walked in to a games room of sorts that had literally everything she could think of. A massive tv was built in to a wall on one side of the room which if she had to guess was probably around 190 inches. She surveyed the room and could see all manner of items, a popcorn machine, a cotton candy machine, arcade machines, adult sized connect 4, games consoles, a sofa, a whole wall with dvd's in bookcases from end to end, toys of all kind from wooden toys to plastic action figures, stuffed teddy bears to educational building toys, you named it it was there.

Videl was in awe, even when she and...that man were rich, she never had anything like this. It wasn't like they couldn't afford it but she was always busy, if it wasn't school it was crime fighting and if it wasn't crime fighting it was training and if not that, hanging with her best friends. She had never really stopped to think if she had wanted anything like this, she had always had her goal of being the best martial artist and stopping bad guys so that was all she ever focused on.

Gohan took note of how she was staring around the room in complete amazement. He let her take it all in before he spoke up;

"So I'm guessing Bulma didn't show you this room?" he asked but he already knew the answer.

"No! Not at all. Why would you hide something like this?" she asked.

"Well it's Trunks' rec room so not many people would get to see it" he replied.

"Yeah I suppose so" she replied, still taking things in.

"Do you wanna play some of the arcade games?" he asked.

She looked to him finally after getting a fill of what was in the room;

"Sure, what did you have in mind?" she asked, looking at the different consoles and arcades.

"I was thinking maybe something along the lines of...Takken 2?" he asked.

"A fighting game? I'm surprised you'd be in to something like that" she replied.

"Yeah well you know me, full of surprises" he replied.

'_That he is' _thought Videl.

"Ok, sure" she replied.

He led them over to the sofa and switched on one of the consoles. He went and found the game disc and popped it in before handing a controller to Videl and picking one up for himself.

After getting acquainted with the game quickly (for neither of them had played it in some time), they started playing a few rounds and found that they were both equally matched at the game.

Deciding after maybe thirty minutes that it was just going to be a stalemate, Gohan decided on a change of scenery;

"Hey Videl, I know we're having fun here but there's one last room I want to show you" said Gohan.

"Okay, sure" replied Videl as they placed their controllers back and switched off the game.

Gohan then led Videl to the complete opposite side of the building towards a certain room which she had been told earlier that day was top secret.

"This way, it's just down this hall" said Gohan as he led Videl down a corridor.

"Hey wait, isn't this the top secret area where you and that Vegeta were doing an experiment before there was an explosion? Which reminds me, I forgot to ask what that explosion was all about?" she asked.

"Oh, well we had a disagreement about how to go about solving our problem and we ended up putting two energy sources together that can sometimes be quite volatile" said Gohan. He was half telling the truth, Vegeta was usually volatile and if pushed, he could be as well.

"Well I'm just glad you're ok" she replied with a smile.

They arrived at the door and Gohan punched in a series of numbers and letters on a keypad before the door slid open and granted them entry. Videl was now getting her first look at this top secret area and she had to admit...it was a bit disappointing. The walls were bare, there wasn't anything in the room akin to chemicals or fashion lines or...anything really, only a control panel attached to a column in the center of the room. A supercomputer maybe?

"Gohan, what am I looking at?" she asked.

"This room is known to most people as the GR whenever they ask about it" he replied.

"Ok? But that doesn't really answer my question, what is GR?" she asked with a confused expression.

"GR stands for Gravity Room" he replied. Videl took a moment to process that;

"Gravity Room? So I take it that this can affect the gravity of a person?" she asked the obvious question.

"Yeah , Vegeta normally uses it for training. He turns up the gravity of the room so he has to work harder, thus increasing his muscle mass and density" he explained.

"Wow, that's awesome" she said with a look of genuine surprise on her face.

"That's not all it can do" said Gohan before he started pressing some buttons on the control panel. Once he was done, he looked back over to her and pointed up. Videl took the hint and looked up. What was once just a whilte, tiled ceiling was now replaced with what looked like the night sky and the lights began to dim down.

"Bulma had a camera installed on top of the building which allows you to see the night sky. Unfortunately due to light pollution from large cities like this one, you don't get to see as much as you'd want" he went on to say.

"It's...it's wonderful" said Videl in absolute bewilderment.

"That's not all. Remember how I said Vegeta increased the gravity for training?" he asked her.

"Yeah" replied Videl questioningly. Gohan then grabbed Videl's hand and led her towards the console, his grip firm but soft before punching a few more buttons on the console;

"Just watch" he said.

About ten seconds later, Videl noticed that she suddenly seemed to be losing control of her ability to stand properly. Upon looking down, she realised why that was...her feet were no longer touching the ground. She looked back to Gohan who had a huge smile on his face;

"Not only can it increase gravity but it can also reduce it to near zero gravity, effectively making a person weightless" he explained.

They both started floating as he was still holding on to her hand and they began to drift about in the air. After letting her float around aimlessly for a short while to get used to the feeling, he pulled her closer and maneuvered her so that she was pointing up at the ceiling and he was holding her by her waist at her hips. He did have to use his energy in order to maneuver them in a way that wouldn't have them spinning in circles, though he didn't tell her how he did that...at least not yet anyway.

Videl was in pure enjoyment. Never had she ever felt such a feeling like this, the pure bliss of her surroundings, the peacefulness that it brought, the warmth she felt at his touch...his touch, that reminded her. She gently grabbed his hands and brought them around her waist so that he was holding her closely and she lay her hands and arms on his hand and arms that were keeping her close. Both teens blushed from the direct and forward move that Videl had made but neither of them tried to break away from it.

Gohan wasn't quite on the same wavelength as Videl was but he did know that he liked this feeling and like Videl, he wanted it to go on a little bit longer. She managed to turn and face him whilst they were both still floating so she could see his face and speak to him properly.

"Gohan...this is the most wonderful, thoughtful thing anybody has ever done for me. Thank you" she said as she pulled him in for the most heartfelt hug she had ever given anyone.

"I'm glad you liked it. I just want to see you happy" he admitted all too easily.

Videl thought for a moment just how lucky she was to have a friend like Gohan. He was kind, caring, clearly thoughtful and very attractive, smart like almost no one else. She would be lying if she hadn't thought about being swept off her feet a number of times by Gohan, although not only did he sweep her off her feet, he was literally sweeping her off the planet, what with there being almost no gravity right now.

As they were pulling out of the hug, Videl decided to do something a bit out of character and on impulse. She placed her left hand on Gohan's right cheek, her right hand holding on his shoulder and turned her head towards his and placed a warm, gentle kiss on his left cheek. As they pulled away from this, Gohan could only look completely dumbfounded whilst Videl poured a bit more of her heart in to what she was saying;

"Really Gohan I mean it, nobody has ever treated me the way you do. When I talk to you, it's easy, natural even. I don't have to put up a front...you would just see through it even if I did. You never asked to hang out with me just to use me. You've only ever had my best interest at heart. Thank you" she said, her voice lowering at the last part.

Both teens were then looking in to each other's eyes. Videl then looked down at his lips and back to his eyes, Gohan was doing the same thing. She looked again at his lips and then back up before their faces were slowly starting to drift towards one another, both sets of eyes now locked in to looking at the other one's lips.

They were mere centimeters away from each other when a loud banging could be heard. Both teens jumped slightly (or as much as one could in near zero gravity). They pushed each other away to arms length by their shoulders, each with embarrassment clear on their faces. Gohan then focused on the energy signature behind the door and was surprised by who it was but also by the voice that followed;

"Gohan? Are you in there? I need to talk to you, it's extremely important" came the voice of Dende.


	13. Chapter 13: Confession? Almost

I finally managed to get another chapter out. Initially this was thought to be the last chapter, however I've written that much that I've had to go in to another chapter. Truthfully, I don't know myself if Chapter 14 will be the last chapter. I'm fairly certain at this point that it will be no more than two chapters to get to the end. This story started a year ago this month so hopefully it won't drag on too much longer.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT or Dragonball Super, any of it's film adaptations or the manga.

* * *

**Chapter 13**

Hercule had finally climbed to the top of the cliff, it had only taken him a couple of hours...on top of the hour he thought it would take. Man was he beat but he was here now and all it would take to end all their problems were for him to go over the edge of the cliff.

"I can't believe it's come to this...where did it all go wrong. I only wanted what was best for my sweet pea...my whole world" he said to himself as he thought back to his daughter, his only child who he had watched grow most of his life into the young woman she now was. Despite their current differences, he couldn't be any prouder of her. She was the one who managed to get them away from the city and kept them going for as long as she had, she never lost focus and she kept looking for a way to get them back on their feet.

And what did he do? He committed fraud! Let the world believe that his weak ass was the one to defeat Cell and raked in millions in the process. He didn't have the courage to speak up and say it wasn't him who beat Cell, that he was outclassed the entire time but a group of strangers who quite frankly, had scared the life out of him were the ones to defeat Cell. He couldn't understand what those people even were so he had explained it away with the simplest thing his mind could conjure. Tricks.

The worst thing he did though was lie but not just to anyone. No, he had to go and lie to his daughter who had to watch as he got his ass handed to him repeatedly in the last 16 of the World Martial Arts Tournament (incidentally, this was also the first match). Of course she was concerned with his well being initially so the question of how he lost hadn't been brought up straight away.

Videl had managed to get in to the last 16 herself but as her match was last and the uproar that was her father losing had caused quite a bit of unrest within the gathered crowds, so much so that she got herself and her father out of there in a hurry, forfeiting her spot in the tournament. She could have went all the way and Hercule knew it, another thing for her to be disappointed with him for.

This was no time for self pity though, Hercule knew what he did wrong and he knew why it was wrong. In his eyes there was no room for excuses nor for any kind of forgiveness or atonement. The only way to solve the problem was to remove the cause of the problem...him. This was why he was now atop a cliff, a waterfall running down the side not too far from where he was planning to jump from. He currently sat contemplating his life, every decision he made, what he could have done differently, whether the big decisions were the right decisions.

He briefly thought how Videl would take the news...not well probably. Hopefully she would understand as he had written down his thoughts earlier in the letter he left on his bag before leaving. Another hardship that she would have to endure, only this time without her bumbling oaf of a father was what he was telling himself.

"At least she'll be well looked after. That family are nothing but saints...I know that Gohan boy will take good care of her, I just know it" he said out loud once more.

He knelt down on the ground and closed his eyes, taking a few steadying breaths;

"Kami, I know that I've done wrong in this world and that I don't deserve to walk it's surface anymore. I've committed more stupid actions than I'm proud to admit, the biggest one was not trusting my daughter more and treating her like the young woman she's become.

If I could take back all the words I've said about those fighters and replace them with praise, I would in an instant. I'd tell the world what really happened, even if it meant I'd lose my riches and the lifestyle I've grown accustomed to these last seven years.

I'd do more for the community, pick up trash, walk the elderly across the street, visit soup kitchens, help the homeless and actually train people how to do martial arts rather than just show flashy moves.

I'd do it all. I'd give it all up. Sacrifice everything if it meant my daughter could love this old fool once again.

I pray Kami, that the next life that I live is a better one...if I'm even worthy of having another life" he finished as tears were rolling down his face, his breaths hitching in the back of his throat through sobs as he finally managed to finish what he had been trying to say.

He stood once again and walked towards the edge of the cliff and looked over slightly to see the ground below as well as the bottom of the waterfall not far off. He moved closer to the top of the waterfall. He was planning on going down the waterfall itself or as close as he could get, thinking that if he hit the rocks below then that would do the job and if somehow that didn't do it, he could always drown.

He took a few more steadying breaths;

"This is it. Kami...my darling wife...Videl...please forgive me".

He walked off the cliff...

* * *

Dende had been conversing with Piccolo for a short while before the taller Namekian went back to meditating. He then moved on to the small area where everyone had their pointers for Sharpner;

"If it's speed you want, you should try this" said Chichi as she was facing off against Krillin in a demonstration. Krillin however was slightly intimidated. He knew that Chichi had one or two past issues with things he had said or done and now might just be the time she gets them off her chest...and placed squarely in his if he wasn't careful.

"As you can see, my attacks aren't nearly as strong but they were targeted in key areas of the body. A few shots is all it might take before your opponent loses" said Chichi as she threw some jabs towards Krillin, the speed of which was surprising Sharpner.

"Wow, who knew" said Sharpner out loud.

"My turn" said 18 as she stood next to Chichi. Krillin's eyes widened, this was starting to look worse for him.

Dende was watching his friends, enjoying the revery he was in as he remembered the ordeals that they had all been through and come out stronger for. This site was just one of the many proofs of the bonds they all had.

He was broken out of his thoughts when he heard someone praying to him. It's true that he could hear whenever the people of the Earth prayed to him, he would normally listen to them and did whatever he could which admittedly wasn't usually much. This time however, the voice was familiar...far too familiar. His eyes bugged out when he heard the message...loud and clear.

"Dende!" said Piccolo via a telepathic conversation.

Dende swung around and stared straight at the taller Namekian who was now looking intensely at the Guardian of the Earth;

"What's wrong?" he continued.

"It's Mr Satan. He's about to do something very stupid" replied Dende.

"What's he doing?" asked Piccolo, a bit annoyed that the oaf could be doing something more stupid.

"I think he's about to take his own life" replied the young Guardian.

Piccolo's features didn't ease up but Dende could tell there was concern;

"What should we do?" asked Piccolo.

"I'll go get Gohan, he needs to know! Do you mind staying here? I don't want to draw attention, this isn't something that everyone needs to be a part of" said Dende.

"Of course, now go!" said Piccolo emphasising the last two words.

Dende moved casually towards the doors and slipped through them back in to the building.

Piccolo gave a small grunt at the annoyance this whole situation was going to cause. He was about to go back to meditating when he felt the gaze of someone looking at him. He turned his head towards a sun lounger where a certain Prince was sitting up and glaring straight at him. He knew something was wrong and wanted an answer.

Piccolo nodded his head before throwing it back in the direction of the door, giving Vegeta the signal that this was a conversation that needed to be behind closed doors.

* * *

Dende made a quick scan of the area and moved towards Gohan's energy. He followed it until he arrived at the end of a hallway that led to only one door;

"Hmm, so this is the famous gravity room that Vegeta's always on about" pondered Dende. He shook his head, reminding himself that now was not the time for curiosity, time was of the essence here.

He knocked the door;

"Gohan? Are you in there? I need to talk to you, it's extremely important" he said, loudly enough that he hoped Gohan could hear him through the thick metal...of course he could, there's no way that Saiyan hearing wouldn't have picked it up.

* * *

Gohan knew that Dende would not have interrupted if it weren't something seriously important;

"Sorry about this" he said, addressing Videl.

"No it's alright" said Videl. Truthfully it wasn't alright, she was just denied the most perfect moment she ever had or would likely ever get. It was not only going to be her first kiss with Gohan, it was going to be her first kiss ever. It was nearly impossible to make the first kiss perfect but Gohan had damn near managed it too.

Using his energy, he pushed them both back towards the ground where he was able to restore gravity. The two teens then let go of each other but they had both managed to make eye contact for a brief moment, reminding themselves of what could have been.

Gohan then made his way towards the door and pressed a few buttons that unlocked the door before it slid open to reveal the shorter Namekian;

"Hey Dende, what's up?" asked Gohan, a bit perturbed but more concerned as to why his friend had come looking for him.

"Hey Gohan...oh, hey Videl" said Dende as he noticed Videl. Truthfully he knew she was in there but he was trying to act casual, especially considering the very delicate situation that was happening right now.

"Hi" she replied sheepishly from behind Gohan. Dende waved back as to be polite.

"Gohan, there's an...issue that I really need your help with...like right now" explained Dende, keeping his voice low for the last few words.

Gohan didn't like this. Dende was not usually apprehensive unless something was coming their way. Gohan had done his own scan at Dende's words but didn't find anything unusual. This only made Gohan a bit more worried.

"Ok" said Gohan as he nodded to his friend, "Sorry Videl but something's come up. Dende is needed somewhere and I need to help him get there" explained Gohan.

"Oh? Is everything alright?" asked Videl with curiosity and concern in her voice.

"That depends, we need to go now Gohan" said Dende with concern in his voice.

"Right. You should make your way back to the party Videl. I'll be back soon" said Gohan.

"Ok...promise?" she asked.

"Promise" he replied, flashing his signature grin.

Videl's cheeks heated up slightly as Gohan and Dende made their way out of the door with Videl quickly following suit so as to not get locked in the room herself.

Gohan and Dende had already disappeared from site before Videl had made it through the door as it slid closed behind her.

'_I hope everything is alright. I wonder what it was that happened to get them both moving so fast' _thought Videl.

* * *

Dende was now clinging on to Gohan as he sped through the air faster than what Dende could manage on his own. They had only left Capsule Corps a few moments ago with Dende having managed to explain the short version to Gohan about what Hercule was about to do. Soon however, Dende felt it...or rather the lack of it;

"Gohan...I think we're too late" said Dende solemnly.

Gohan looked back at his friend wide-eyed, unwilling to believe that that's all there was to it. Sure Hercule was arrogant and cocky and stuck his nose in one too many places but Gohan had a chance to see the other side of the man, the caring father that he could be and the thoughtful thinker that he had sometimes shown to be. Hercule rarely showed it but he was a smarter man than people were led to believe...not that he was trying to act like an idiot, that was just natural.

Gohan was fixated on the caring father though. If Hercule were to go to the Otherworld then Videl would be devastated. It didn't matter what she was feeling right now towards him, that would all go away if she found out he had died. Gohan knew from personal experience what it was like to not have a father, maybe more so as his father decided to stay dead after sacrificing himself for a noble reason. Hercule on the other hand wasn't going to be leaving this world for a noble reason and that was something that Gohan couldn't allow to happen.

He suddenly kicked it up a notch by going Super Saiyan, much to the surprise of Dende as Gohan tightened his grip and pushed his speed even further, right up to the limit as he pulled both of them through the sky back towards his home. He had to get there, he just had to, he had to make sure that Videl had a father to come home to.

* * *

Videl had made her way back to the party and found that just about everyone was still over at the grassy area, however Sharpner was no longer the centre of attention and now it seemed that Krillin's wife, 18 was beating his ass in to the ground and she didn't look like she was even trying;

"Aww c'mon honey, what was that for?" asked Krillin as he rubbed his head whilst trying to get up off the ground.

"Nothing, I just thought it'd be fun" said 18 with a surprising amount of glee in her voice.

"Yeah right, nothing my ass" mumbled Krillin under his breath.

"Hey Videl" Erasa called out. Videl turned to look at the tables and found both of her friends sitting there with Bulma. Sharpner was facing the action taking place trying to make sure that he was paying attention to everything that was going on. Erasa was sat next to Bulma both looking over at the action but still clearly having their own conversation. Videl made her way over to the table and sat next to Sharpner but faced towards Bulma and Erasa;

"Hey Erasa, hi Bulma" greeted Videl as she sat down.

"So….where have _you _been?" asked Erasa.

"Oh...I was just hanging out with Gohan. He showed me around the place some more" replied Videl whose cheeks had gone a few shades of red.

"Oh really? And where is he then, hmmm? I bet he can't stop smiling right now" implied Erasa, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"No, Dende came and found us. Apparently he's needed somewhere and Gohan is helping him get there. Although now I think about it, that doesn't really tell me much" explained Videl.

Bulma didn't like that explanation one bit. Sure there wasn't really any information in it when you just heard the words being said. It was, however, a problem when Dende went looking for Gohan to help him go somewhere. If Bulma had to guess, Dende was needed somewhere, and fast, either that or it was dangerous, possibly both knowing this lot.

"Excuse me for a moment, I'll be right back" said Bulma as she got up and left the table. She then made her way over to Piccolo and Vegeta who were both still relaxing or meditating. She wouldn't have been surprised if they were both sleeping truth be told.

"Hey Piccolo" she said to garner his attention. Piccolo opened his eyes and looked at Bulma before replying;

"Hmm, what's up?" he asked in his usual gruff voice.

"Do you know anything about Dende going off to find Gohan?" she asked.

"Yes, however it's not a conversation we should be having here" he said in as low a tone as he could go to try and make sure nobody else heard him. Vegeta did hear but then, Piccolo had told Vegeta earlier before the Saiyan Prince decided that it was not his problem. He motioned for them both to make their way indoors. Bulma led the way and Piccolo followed as they made their way indoors and away in to a side room down one of the corridors. It looked like some kind of storage room Piccolo noted. This would do;

"Spill, what's going on?" asked Bulma.

"Well, it seems that Mr Satan has deemed his life as unworthy now and has decided to end it early" replied Piccolo as if this were a bank transaction.

"HE WHAT!?" cried out Bulma in shock.

"You heard me, he's going to kill himself" Piccolo reiterated.

"Well...w-we have to do something!" said a worried Bulma.

"No, we need to stay here and not draw any attention to this. Dende said that this is a very delicate subject, Videl can't know about it" he said.

"Are you sure, I mean the poor girl has a right to know right?" asked Bulma who couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I understand but do you want to be the one who tells Gohan how upset she was when we told her that her father could be dead and we wouldn't let her go try and help him?" he asked.

"Well sure, when you put it like that" Bulma grumbled.

"Besides, that's why Dende went and asked Gohan. He needs to get there quickly and he needs someone who can talk some sense in to the big oaf. It has to be Gohan" said Piccolo.

"Fine, I'll not say a word. Who else knows?" she asked.

"Besides us and Gohan and Dende? Only Vegeta, nobody else knows and it needs to stay that way" he replied.

"Got it" she replied as they both made their way out of the small room and back to the main doors.

* * *

"Oh my God Videl, Bulma is amazing! She has all these wonderful insights about fashion but not just that, she's also such a genius when it comes to all that techy and engineering stuff. I mean, she is just the most amazing person EVER" said a very enthusiastic Erasa.

"Hehe, well I'm glad you're enjoying yourself Erasa. What about you Sharpner? Having fun?" asked Videl.

"Hmm? Oh heck yeah, all these guys are martial artists and they all have such different and varied styles. Honestly, I think I've learned more tonight about martial arts than I did my whole life with Mr Satan. No offence" he said.

"None taken. After all, I did study that same martial arts all my life that you did" replied Videl.

"What about you Videl, did you enjoy all that alone time you spent with Gohan?" said Erasa, wiggling her eyebrows again.

Videl didn't say anything but merely motioned her head towards Sharpner as if to say 'not in front of the idiot'. She didn't need to hide anything though as Sharpner spoke up;

"You don't need to hide it Videl, I already know" said Sharpner not taking his eyes off the action. He was looking on as Master Roshi was clubbing both Krillin and Yamcha over their heads with his old wooden staff.

"W-w-what do you mean?" asked Videl, feigning innocence.

"I mean I know about your crush on Nerd-boy, so if you want to be open and talk about it then go ahead. You don't need to hide it anymore" explained Sharpner.

"Oh...but how did you know?" she asked out of curiosity.

"I have my sources" he replied with a smirk.

"Yeah, when I told you and you wept on the ride home for 10 minutes" rebuked Erasa.

"Aww c'mon, why you gotta hang me out to dry like that Erasa?" he asked with a hint of resignation in his voice.

"Because it's fun Sharpie" she replied with a playful wink.

"So...did you have fun with Gohan?" Erasa asked again.

Videl, making note of what Sharpner said decided that the old Videl may as well be dead at this point. She wasn't quite as prideful as she once was (especially of her name) and she had spent so much time out of the city and without luxuries that maybe she was a whole new person now. If that's true, then maybe she should try opening up about her feelings more, something that she previously would never have thought about doing.

"Yes" replied Videl as her mouth turned up in to a genuine smile. Erasa squealed in delight, hardly containing herself.

"Oh this is gonna be so good, tell me everything" said a hyper Erasa as she moved closer to Videl on her side of the table so she could give her her full attention.

Videl started telling Erasa what happened over the last hour or so in the time that she spent with Gohan. Erasa was hanging over every word that came out of Videls' mouth until she got to the juiciest part;

"And he told me the room could also remove gravity as well. He pushed some buttons and before I knew it, I had no control and literally floated off the ground. He guided me around as he floated as well and then I managed to grab hold of him and turn myself around to face him" said Videl as Erasa grew more and more excited about where this was going.

"I basically confessed my feelings for him right then and there, laid it all out. He didn't say anything back, then again, he didn't really have to. I seen the way he was looking at me and...I remember the way I was looking at him. I wanted to kiss him so bad" said Videl as a blush made it's way on to her face at her honesty over her feelings.

"Wait! You say that like you didn't kiss? Please tell me you kissed him Videl?" pleaded Erasa.

"No, we didn't. We were so close too, we were barely inches apart...then Dende interrupted us and whisked Gohan off somewhere" she sighed during that last part.

"What? Noooo! That's not fair, that was like the most romantic kiss you could have gotten tonight and he had to go and do that, what a party pooper" said Erasa as she sulked at this.

"Hehe, take it easy Erasa. I'm sure Dende and Gohan have something very important to do if they had to go right now" explained Videl.

"Yeah, I guess you're right" sighed Erasa.

"Besides...the night isn't quite over" smirked Videl.

"Oooo Videl the bad girl" said Erasa playfully.

"Oh hush you" said Videl as she giggled.

'_Please come back tonight Gohan. I want to finish what we started' _thought Videl.

* * *

Gohan and Dende arrived in front of the Son household as Gohan powered down from Super Saiyan and rushed towards the door. He made to open it but found it locked;

"It's locked...that's not a good sign" he said aloud.

"Gohan, I'm not sensing anything from inside your house" said Dende.

"You're right but we need to check it to make sure he's not gone off somewhere else" replied Gohan.

He made his way around to his bedroom from the outside as he had left a window open earlier. Not wanting to damage the door (and be chastised from his mother...again) he opted to float up to the window and open it further. After sliding in through the window, he made his way out of the room and downstairs.

He searched the downstairs and quickly found a bag and an envelope on top of it. He grabbed the envelope and removed it's contents and started reading. Unfortunately, what they had suspected Hercule was planning was all but confirmed with the letter. Gohan made his way to the front door and found a house key just inside the door which he picked up and inspected for a moment before using it to open the door and reunite with Dende;

"He left a note. It seems like you were right Dende." said Gohan.

"It might be too late already Gohan, I can't sense him anywhere nearby" said Dende somewhat regrettably.

"Then we'll need to go looking for him. He can't have gotten that far" said Gohan with determination.

With that, both of them took to the skies once more and started searching the land looking for the man known as Mr Satan.

They searched for a couple of hours but to no avail, being led on wild goose chases by some animals from time to time that had somehow gotten a hold of small articles of clothing, most likely through lost luggage being washed up and carried by birds or animals with flight and then dropped over the forest areas. Maybe they had been used to build nests but that was besides the point, right now he needed to find Hercule;

"Gohan!" shouted Dende. They had split up a little while ago to cover more ground and Dende was now returning to check in with Gohan;

"Did you find him Dende?" asked Gohan.

"I'm afraid not" replied Dende solemnly.

Gohan looked at his watch and sighed in what looked like defeat;

"I'm gonna head back home. Mom and Videl will likely be back shortly. I'm gonna phone Bulma and ask her to send Piccolo over to help...maybe even Vegeta too" he said.

"I'll keep looking, hopefully I find him soon" said Dende.

"Thanks Dende" replied Gohan.

"Of course, anything for you Gohan" replied Dende with a weak smile.

They both went their separate ways, Dende continuing the search in hopes of finding Hercule Satan and Gohan away back home to prepare for what would certainly be difficult times ahead.

* * *

"Gohan sure is taking his time, isn't he?" said Erasa questioningly.

"Yeah, you think he's alright?" asked Videl.

"I'm sure he's fine" said Sharpner, uncharacteristically trying to be comforting.

Whilst the three were conversing, Chichi returned to the table with Bulma in tow;

"Is everyone having fun?" asked Bulma.

"Yeah" said the trio.

"Does anyone know where Gohan went? I haven't seen him in a while "asked Chichi.

"He went to go help Dende with something but that was more than 2 hours ago" explained Videl with a bit of worry in her voice.

Just then Bulma's cell phone started ringing. She removed it from her pocket and looked at the caller ID. It read 'Son House'.

"Excuse me a moment, I need to take this" said Bulma, excusing herself and making her way back indoors. Once inside she hit the answer button;

"Hello?" she asked, not quite sure who she was expecting to speak with.

"Hey Bulma" said Gohan.

"Gohan! What's going on? Is Mr Satan with you?" she asked in quick succession.

"No, he's not. Dende is still out looking for him. I was just phoning to see if you could send Piccolo over to help look...and maybe Vegeta" he asked.

"Sure, no problem. Gohan...do you think he...really went through with it?" asked Bulma tentatively.

"I don't know Bulma. We can't find his energy signature anywhere so...it's possible" he replied tensely.

"...it's not sounding hopeful is it Gohan?" she then asked with some sadness in her voice.

"Not really no...say Bulma, are mom, Goten and Videl still there?" he asked.

"Yeah they're still here, though I think they're getting ready to leave soon. They're worrying about you since you've been gone so long" explained Bulma.

"Yeah I guess it has been a few hours huh" he said aloud now realising the time.

"What do you want me to tell them?" she asked.

"Just...tell them I'm home now and that there's no point in me returning there tonight, that I'll meet them back home" he said.

"Ok, I'll tell them" she replied.

"Thanks Bulma. Gotta go, we'll speak soon" he said.

"Ok...and Gohan?" she said his name to gain his attention once more.

"Hmm?" he asked.

"Make sure that you take care of that poor girl...she's going to need all the friends she can get right now" explained Bulma.

"...I will" he said before they each hung up.

* * *

Bulma made her way back out the main doors and headed back towards the table but instead of stopping and rejoining the table, she made her way past and continued on until she found Piccolo.

He opened his eyes as she approached and pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against;

"What's wrong?" he asked in his usual gruff voice and demeanor. Bulma got close to him and indicated him to lean down so she could whisper;

"Gohan's asking if you'll go out and help them look for him. They've had no luck so far" she said in as low a voice as she could muster. Piccolo seemed to ponder for a moment before finally coming to a decision;

"Ok, I'll head there just now" he replied and made his way back inside. He needed to get out of sight of the party as there were still people there that didn't understand their powers (namely, Gohan's friends).

"Bulma?" called Vegeta who wasn't too far away. Bulma looked at him before making her way over to him still sitting in the sun lounger.

"They still haven't found him" she said still in a low tone, not even waiting for him to ask a question.

"Well he was weak. Natural selection at it's best" he said as he made himself comfy again.

"Listen Vegeta, I need you to go out there and help look for him" she said.

"Hmph, not a chance. I have no time for people like him. He made his choice" Vegeta bit back.

"C'mon Vegeta...tell you what, if you do this for me…" she started before getting right next to his ear and whispering as quietly as she could, "I'll let you do that thing in the bedroom tonight" she suggested.

Vegeta then sat up, swung his legs off the side of the sun lounger and stood up to make his way towards the door. Before he moved anywhere, he leaned in towards Bulma and whispered back;

"Make sure to put on the cheapest clothes you have because tonight I'm gonna rip them off" he said before slapping her ass and making his way to follow Piccolo.

Bulma just stood there with a blush on her face before shaking her head to rid herself of those thoughts and make her way back to the table.

* * *

"Well Videl, we can't wait around for Gohan any longer. I'm afraid we'll need to leave if we want to get home before it's too late" said Chichi.

"But what if something happened to Gohan?" she asked, now slightly worried about leaving him on his own. A small part might have been eager to see him again that night but it was just a small part...that was growing steadily.

"Gohan is more than capable of taking care of himself. He's been through a lot so trust me when I say this, he'll be fine" said Chichi as she smiled at Videl.

"Say Chichi, if you want I can keep Goten here for tonight. He looks rather tired now anyway" said Bulma.

Chichi looked at Bulma quizzically. Bulma normally didn't offer to take Goten unless she knew it was her turn to take the boys anyway or...or something else was going on and Bulma knew. She gave her friend a look, a questioning sort of look.

Bulma gave Chichi a look as well, one to say trust me, he'd be better staying here tonight.

"Sure, sounds great to me" smirked Chichi. To anyone else, it would have seemed like Chichi had won a free night from her youngest but the smirk Chichi had was forced to try and cover up her suspicions and growing anxiety.

"Ok, I guess it's time we should go then" said a defeated Videl..

"Yeah it is getting pretty late, me and Sharpie should be heading home too" said Erasa.

"Yeah, my parents will go psycho if I'm out until 2 in the morning again like that last party at Videls" he said.

The three of them giggled at that, remembering simpler times.

"Ok, well you two stay safe, text when you get home. Hey Sharpner, a moment?" said Videl.

"What's up?" he asked as he closed the gap between them.

"Make sure she gets home safely...if you know what I mean" she said with a wink.

Sharpner blushed at that before speaking up;

"R-right, of course" he replied with a small smile of his own. Erasa then bounced over and enveloped her best friend in a hug.

"Don't worry Videl, we'll be fine. We should totally get together again next weekend" said the every bubbly Erasa.

"Sure" replied Videl with a big smile on her face.

"Bye" they said to each other.

"Hey" shouted Sharpner to the rest of the party. They all turned around to look at the tall boy;

"Thanks for everything, it was really helpful" he said.

"No problem, we should do this again sometime" yelled Krillin. Everyone else around him either nodded their heads or waved back.

Sharpner waved back one last time and he and Erasa made their way out the door and back in to the complex.

As they walked through the corridors, Erasa hooked her arm through the crook of Sharpener's arm by his elbow. He looked down at his arm and then to Erasa who was slightly blushing now, only causing him to slightly blush as well;

"So...how long can you actually stay out for?" she asked.

"Well, by the time we get back to Sata-I mean Orange Star City...i'll have about an hour left. Why do you ask?" he asked but he sorta knew where this was going.

"Well I was wondering if you wanted to go for a walk when we get back. You know, just to reflect on this evening's party" she asked. Ok it was a terrible reason but she wasn't really bothered how she got him alone, she just wanted to spend the alone time with him.

"Sure" he replied, a smile creeping onto his face.

Erasa smiled back at him and tightened her grip around his arm as they made their way out the front doors of Capsule Corps.

* * *

It had been a further two hours now since Piccolo and Vegeta had joined them in their search but still no sign of the man. They had looked up and down the forests surrounding the Son home inch by inch but not even a clue as to where he went. Everytime they came up empty they widened the search radius. Even if he had actually succeeded, there would still be a body. This was the thought on everyone's mind which is why it was curious why they hadn't found him yet.

Eventually Piccolo had struck upon an idea. What if his body wasn't there because it was moved. What if something had dragged it away? Piccolo scanned the surrounding area trying to figure out what would have taken him away. After looking around for some time, he looked towards the cliff off in the distance and watched the running water, reminding him of one of his favoured meditating spots that he and Gohan would often frequent. Heck, he would go himself if it gave him peace and quiet, away from prying eyes.

"Away from prying eyes" Piccolo said to himself. It was then that he had a moment of clarity. The waterfall! Running in to a river! Running water...that's where he'd likely gone. Piccolo wasted no time and made his way towards the waterfall.

* * *

Gohan was sat at the table in the kitchen at his home. He could sense Dende, Piccolo and Vegeta out there looking for Mr Satan. He had continued the search with Dende and when Piccolo and Vegeta had shown up it gave him hope that they would find the man yet.

Unfortunately, he was able to sense two more energy signatures in the distance that he recognised as belonging to his mom and Videl. He had made the decision to go home at that point. He would need to explain things to his mom and be there for Videl. After what nearly happened earlier that evening, this was not going to be easy but he had to be there for her.

The front door clicked as it was opened. He took a breath and exhaled before standing up;

"Well, no time like the present" he muttered before making his way out of the kitchen.

* * *

Laying in the dirt, washed up against a fallen tree was what appeared to be the body of Mr Satan. One of his arms were bent the wrong way, clearly broken in two places, massive gashes on his legs and big deep purple bruises on his torso which could only be seen since his top had been almost completely ripped off.

Despite all of the injuries, there was the slightest rise and fall of his lungs taking in air. Miraculously he was still breathing, however his injuries were very severe and without treatment, he was sure to die. The only thing Hercule Satan should be thankful for right now is that he's unconscious, unable to comprehend the pain his body would otherwise be in.

That and that he wouldn't know the pain and hardship that he was about to put his daughter through as she arrived back at their temporary home.


	14. Chapter 14: Don't leave me alone, idiot!

Apologies for the wait. Despite being on furlough during the current Covid-19 pandemic, you would think that we writers have more time to do just that, write. However, life still gets in the way sometimes and for a while now (between Chapters 12 & 14) I've kinda had a bit of a writers block. I was never in the mood to write anything for these last 3 chapters but I am not one to leave a story untold, especially when you see the sheer number on this site.

Anywho, I hope you enjoy this chapter, especially having left you on the cliffhangers of the last few chapters.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT or Dragonball Super, any of it's film adaptations or the manga.

* * *

**Chapter 14**

"Gohan we're home" called out Chichi as she and Videl walked in through the front door.

"Hey mom" said Gohan as he appeared from the kitchen, his face looking somewhat somber.

"Hey Gohan" said Videl as she closed the door behind them. She turned back to look at the young man who was currently looking down at the ground and his face contorted as if he were struggling with something.

"Gohan honey, what's wrong?" asked his mother.

Videl looked at him quizzically. Something wasn't right but she didn't know what it was yet. She moved closer to Chichi as they awaited an answer when something caught her eye. She turned to look in to the front room and noticed that..._he_ wasn't there but instead there was a bag and an envelope which from where she stood looked like it was open but she wasn't sure given the dim light in the room;

"Hey where's...Hercule...gone?" she asked as she moved towards the bag and envelope. Gohan stiffened at the question. Videl didn't see this as she moved in to the room but Chichi did;

"Gohan? Has something happened?" asked Chichi with a bit more concern in her voice. The both heard a gasp from the front room and both their heads swiveled around to see Videl holding the letter in one hand and the other covering her mouth. She then looked back towards Gohan wide-eyed before running over towards him;

"Please...tell me this isn't true? Where is he? WHERE is he?" she asked, trying to hold back a yell of desperation.

"I...I...I don't...don't know, Videl" he admitted casting his gaze back towards the ground.

"Would someone please tell me what is going on, now!" ordered Chichi. Videl threw her arm out to the side with the letter for Chichi to grasp.

Chichi then studied the letter and realised the severity of the situation;

"Oh no…" was all Chichi could offer, stunned for a moment in to silence. Videl was already in tears, unwilling to accept what she had read;

"No...no it can't be real, this is just one big joke isn't it. Tell me he's alright Gohan?" she pleaded with him as she had moved in close grabbing his shirt and tugging at him hoping that he was going to say everything was fine.

He looked down in to her eyes and could see the desperation in them. He could also see that they were searching his eyes looking for an answer that she could accept. He grasped her hands gently and brought them down slightly;

"I'm sorry Videl but it's no joke. I don't know why he left but we haven't found him yet" he replied.

"We?" asked Chichi as she finally came out of her daze.

"Dende is out searching just now and I've asked Piccolo and Vegeta for help too" he replied.

Videl was beside herself, tears streaming down her face ruining the makeup that Erasa had worked on. She didn't care though, all that mattered to her was making sure her daddy was alright. It no longer mattered that she had hated him before walking back in to the house that night, all she needed to know right now was that he was alive and well and would come back through that door any moment.

She latched on to Gohan and hugged him around his torso crying with her head down so he couldn't see her face. He wrapped his arms around her small frame and pulled her in closer as if to protect her from harm, though this was one thing he simply couldn't protect her from.

* * *

An hour had passed since Videl had clung on to Gohan for dear life and she was now silently sleeping on the couch where Hercule would normally have slept. It had already been a long day and she had further worn herself out with all the crying she had done over that last hour. Gohan sat silently next to her, watching her chest wall rise and fall with every breath she took as she appeared to be in a silent slumber.

He got up and made his way back through to the kitchen where Chichi was sat with some tea trying to calm her own nerves;

"Mom, I'm gonna go back out and help them look" he said.

"Ok Gohan...make sure...make sure he comes home son. I don't want to imagine how Videl will react if her father doesn't come home tonight" said Chichi.

"I promise mom I wi-" he said before cutting himself off. His eyes had gone slightly wide and he spun his head around facing a particular direction;

"What is it Gohan?" asked Chichi with concern for her son's sudden and abrupt stop to the conversation.

"It's Piccolo. I can feel his energy, like he's giving a signal of some kind...I think he's maybe found Mr Satan. I've gotta go mom" he said as he looked back at Chichi with some urgency.

"Then go, GO" she raised her voice slightly. Gohan wasted no time in racing out the door and taking off in to the sky. He followed the direction of the Namekian's energy. It wasn't too far, only a minute or two for him;

"What have you found Piccolo?" he asked to himself as he flew over the forest.

* * *

Piccolo stood at the river bank, a crumpled mess of a man laying at his feet in the form of Hercule Satan. Normally he would have just lugged the man on to his shoulder and took him somewhere to heal but based on the different injuries that could be seen, the different shades of discolour littering his body and the number of limbs and bones that weren't in the correct places told him that he could do more harm than good if he moved him.

He had flared his energy a good dozen times or so to get the others attention. Gohan was the closest so he was expecting him first and Piccolo could tell that he was on his way already.

Vegeta was the furthest away but he expected that he'd still be there faster than Dende as the younger Namekian simply wasn't as practiced at flying as the others.

Really he only needed Dende's presence to heal the man so that he could later be chewed out (in Piccolo's mind at least). Sure enough, Gohan was the first to arrive;

"Piccolo! What happened? Is everything ok?" he asked as he ran up to the tall Namekian before noticing the battered and bruised body of Hercule laying there. Gohan stared for a moment in disbelief. They had been too late and Mr Satan had committed suicide;

"Is he?" Gohan asked, not needing to finish the question.

"He's still alive but barely. We need Dende to heal his wounds" replied Piccolo.

And as if by magic, both Dende and Vegeta appeared with Vegeta holding on to the wrist of Dende as they touched down. It seems that Vegeta ran in to Dende along the way and decided to speed things up by grabbing on to the Guardian and moving them both along at a faster pace. Maybe Vegeta was in a hurry to get somewhere, who knows?

Dende rushed over to where Mr Satan lay and knelt next to him;

"Wow, he's in a bad way. Ok this may take some time" said Dende as he hovered his hands above Mr Satan and faint white energy trickled from Dende's palms as it covered all of Mr Satan's body.

"Well we've found him, the small green man will heal him, my work here is done!" stated Vegeta as he turned away to leave.

"Wait Vegeta! You're going just like that?" asked Gohan.

"Of course, Bulma asked me to help find him. I've done that, now I'm going home to collect my reward" he said whilst looking over his shoulder at Gohan before taking off and heading back in the direction of West City.

"Well he's not wrong I guess. I wonder what he meant by reward?" asked Gohan aloud.

"Beats me, not really interested anyway" replied Piccolo.

* * *

Chichi had been waiting for a half an hour since Gohan had left and was still waiting for word to arrive. Based on how long it had been she wasn't too hopeful since Gohan could easily have carried the idiot back home, unless something was stopping him. She chose not to dwell on those thoughts too much as she wandered around the house, pacing up and down rooms to try and get rid of her built up energy and tension.

She had made her way upstairs and gotten changed in to her pyjamas and decided to get Videls as well so that when the girl inevitably woke up she could then get changed and get a proper sleep in bed. At least, that's what she hoped would happen.

* * *

"Well I've done all that I can. Now we just need to wait for him to wake up" said Dende as he rose from his position next to Hercule.

"So, do any of you know why he tried to kill himself?" asked Piccolo.

"Yeah I've got a bit of an idea" said Gohan.

"...Hmmm" was all the sound that came from Piccolo.

"He feels like his life is worthless now. Since Videl got mad at him and refused to acknowledge him as her own father, he feels like he's got nothing left to live for" explained Gohan.

"Still...there's always room for redemption and forgiveness" said Dende.

"Indeed" said Piccolo.

"Will he be fine Dende?" asked Gohan.

"Sure, once he's awake he'll be as good as new" replied the young Guardian.

"Good. I don't want to keep you two any longer so if you want to head off I'll keep a watch over him" said Gohan.

"Are you sure?" asked Piccolo.

Gohan nodded in confirmation, however before anyone could say anything else, they could hear noises coming from Hercule.

"Ugh...ugghhh…" came the waking and confused sounds of one Hercule Satan.

"Oh, he's waking up" said Dende. The three of them turned around to face Hercule.

"Ughhh...wh-wha...what happened? Where am I? Is this Hell?" he asked, confused.

"Nope, just the middle of the night," said Gohan. Startled, Hercule looked around for the voice until he spotted the three of them looking at him;

"G-Go...Gohan? What are you doing here?" he asked, still a bit dazed and confused.

"Saving you from yourself Hercule" he answered back.

"I...I...I…" was all that Hercule could say.

"How could you do something like this? How could you leave Videl like that and not have the guts to talk it out with her or us?" he asked, though it sounded more like a demand.

"V-Videl doesn't want to know me. It would be better if I weren't in her life" he replied with sobs escaping him and his breath hitching in his throat.

"That's not true at all. Right now she's asleep back at the house but you know what she was doing before that?" Gohan asked knowing that Hercule wouldn't know the answer.

As predicted, Hercule just shook his head indicating that he didn't know;

"She cried for a good hour, maybe more at the thought of not being able to see her father again. It doesn't matter that she's mad at you right now as that will pass in time. But if you kill yourself there's no coming back from that" explained Gohan.

"B-but all those people who died at the Cell games came back. That could happen to me too, right?" he asked. What a stupid question both Piccolo and Gohan had thought.

"Not if you take your own life" said Dende in a soft tone. It was only then that Hercule really took stock of who was around him. He looked at Piccolo and thought for a moment;

"Wait! I know you! You were there...at the Cell games!" exclaimed Hercule.

"Yeah, what about it?" asked Piccolo.

"H-how do you know him Gohan?" asked Hercule.

"That's a long story but first things first, I think you owe your daughter an apology" said Gohan as he offered his hand to Hercule.

"O-of course. I suppose I'm in real trouble now aren't I?" asked the former champ.

"Yeah but I'd be just as worried about how mad my mom will be. She might not like you a great deal Mr Satan but I think she cares a lot about Videl's well being so...be prepared" said Gohan.

"Alright" said Mr Satan as he took a steadying breath just thinking about what was awaiting him at home.

"So...er...how are we getting back? It took me hours to get out here" he said.

"Don't worry. Here, climb on my back" said Gohan.

"Uh...what?" asked a confused Hercule.

"Climb on my back" Gohan repeated.

"O...okay" said Hercule, not wanting to question the boy and possibly get on his bad side too. After all, he was going to have a lot of explaining to do when he got back.

Now that Hercule was situated on his back, Gohan was ready to head home;

"Okay hold on tight" he said as he slowly took off from the ground. Hercule couldn't believe what was happening and gripped on to Gohan for dear life. He had already thrown himself from a great height once today, he didn't feel like taking the trip a second time;

"How is this possible? Gohan how can you fly?" asked Hercule, amazed and terrified all at the same time.

"It's a long story" replied Gohan over the wind.

"You...you're one of them, aren't you? Those tricksters?" asked Hercule not with anger or derision but with genuine curiosity;

"Simple answer: yes, but there's a lot more to it than that which I'll be happy to explain at a later time" replied Gohan.

"Sure" said Hercule, not knowing what else to say.

He continued hugging on for dear life as they flew through the air with Piccolo and Dende following closely behind.

* * *

Eventually the four of them touched down just outside the Son home;

"Well Gohan, it was nice catching up with you but I've got to get back to the lookout. I've left Mr Popo for too long on his own and it wouldn't be fair to expect more from him" said Dende.

"Of course, I understand. Will you be leaving too Piccolo?" asked Gohan.

"Yeah I think I'll take my leave as well. Talk later kid " said Piccolo as he then looked at Hercule and gave a grunt before the two Namekians took flight and headed back for the lookout.

"Well Mr Satan, guess we should head inside" said Gohan.

"R-right" said Hercule, trying to muster up all the courage he could.

Gohan turned the door knob and opened the door allowing both himself and Hercule in before closing it behind them before he then led the way in to the front room. He stopped dead as he looked at the couch and could see that Videl was now awake, dressed in pyjamas and Chichi was sitting next to her with an arm around her shoulder, also dressed in pyjamas. Videl was the first to notice Gohan in the doorway;

"Gohan!" she shouted and jumped up. She didn't make a move towards him however but instead searched his face and his eyes for clues, though she didn't need to look too much as just before she could open her mouth to ask any questions did Hercule also round the corner from behind Gohan. He looked disheveled and his clothes were torn and ripped in different places and still somewhat damp.

"Daddy!" she yelled as she sprinted straight for him and ploughed straight in to his torso and wrapped her arms as far around as they would go with tears already drowning out her eyes, not caring about the state of Hercules clothes or that fact that she was now getting wet being in contact with the large man.

"Daddy, you're safe!" she exclaimed.

"Y-yeah pumpkin, I'm safe" replied Hercule.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THAT! I was so scared I wasn't going to see you again!" she suddenly yelled in anger, the tears still running down her face.

"I-I...I...I'm sorry Videl. I thought you didn't want to speak to me again and you were already so angry with me...I just...didn't think there was anything left for me in this world" he replied solemnly.

"I know what I said was hurtful dad but I don't want to see you die" she whimpered.

"R-really? Then why did you say I wasn't your father anymore?" asked Hercule, a bit hurt at the thought of what Videl had said previously.

"I was angry, angry that you couldn't trust me or tell me the truth about what happened. It was like I didn't even know who you were" she replied.

"Of course...of course" he replied, not knowing what else to say.

"Well, I'm glad to see you're okay Hercule but it's late and I'd like to get some sleep. Just promise us you won't do anything like that again" said Chichi as she began yawning.

"Y-yes...I promise I won't do anything that stupid again. You have my word" said Hercule as he looked at each of the people in the room.

"And Gohan, I want to thank you especially. Without you, I wouldn't be standing here right now" said Hercule as he bowed to the young man.

"Oh, er...Thanks I guess but you should really be thanking Dende. He's the one who told me what happened" replied Gohan.

"...How did he know?" asked a puzzled Hercule.

"That's a...that's a long story, one that I think we should have tomorrow once everyone's had some rest" replied Gohan.

"Okay that's reasonable I suppose" replied Hercule.

"If you don't mind dad, I'd like to stay up and talk for a bit if it's not too much trouble" said Videl.

"Of course sweet pea" replied Hercule.

"Don't stay up too long now" said Chichi as she left the room to go to bed.

"Well I suppose I should head to bed as well. Just do me a favour and try to stay out of trouble" said Gohan.

"S-sure" replied Hercule with some embarrassment in his voice as Gohan turned and began leaving the room.

"I'll be right back dad, why don't you take a seat and wait for me" said Videl as she turned to go after Gohan.

"Sure thing" said Hercule as he made his way towards the couch. Just as Gohan had reached the bottom of the stairs, he heard Videl call to him;

"Hey Gohan" she said not too loudly or quietly, just enough to get his attention.

"Hmm? What's up Videl" he asked as he turned around to look at the petite girl. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him, not nearly as violently as she had her father's not some ten minutes earlier.

"Thank you...thank you for bringing him home" she said trying to hold back tears. She hated crying at the best of times and she's already done that far more times since arriving at the Son household than she'd care to admit.

"Of course, anything to make you happy Videl" he replied as he returned the hug. Videl drew back slightly and looked up to his face and took in his features as a bigger and brighter smile took shape on her face.

She then let go of him and suddenly felt his warmth disappear much to her disappointment. Videl would have gladly stayed wrapped around him if she could have but right now she needed to talk some more with her father. Besides, he wasn't going anywhere, she could always spend more time with him tomorrow.

"Good night Gohan" she said as she turned back to the front room.

"Good night Videl" he replied as he turned and made his way upstairs.

Videl then made her way to the sofa next to her father. There they had a very long conversation about stupidity and how much her father exuded it before moving on to the Cell games again and going through it in detail.

"So those...tricksters, aren't really tricksters at all? You mean that they were really blowing things up?" asked Videl.

"Yep, everything you thought was a trick was as real as you and me" replied Hercule.

"But...but how exactly does that work?" she asked, perplexed at the very notion of humans being able to blow things up.

"I don't know but it's the truth" said Hercule.

"Okay but if that's the case, why didn't you tell the truth then?" asked Videl.

"What exactly did you want me to say? Evil space aliens who can blow up the planet want to fight and me, the strongest man on the planet just got bitch slapped and then hid behind a rock for the rest of the fight?" he asked his daughter with no hint of sarcasm.

"Ok, point taken but why did you have to take all the credit for something you didn't do?" she then asked.

"Well, it wasn't so much that I took the credit but it was more along the lines of someone suggesting that I beat Cell and I was too busy trying to wrap my head around what happened. I then went on autopilot and tried to pander to the crowd, which obviously worked for seven years, and once I seen the money roll in I couldn't stop myself. I mean, we paid off all our debts and lived like kings and queens, tell me that's not something everybody wants" said Hercule.

"Well I suppose I can see your point, but that doesn't mean I have to be happy with it. I would have been content living the way we were before fame found us" explained Videl.

"I know sweet pea and I did think of telling the truth but being able to provide you with anything you wanted, I didn't want to give that up, especially since I was struggling before that all happened" he said.

"Well, I suppose what's done is done and we just have to move forward. No more lies from now on" she said.

Hercule looked at his daughter, this grown up, responsible young woman she had grown up and become.

"No more lies" he responded.

* * *

The next morning Gohan woke up rather early despite the late hour that he went to bed. He slung his legs off the side of the bed and stood up stretching to his full height and stretched his arms above his head, satisfying pops going off all over his body.

He left his room and went to the bathroom to take care of his business and get himself ready for the day. Around 15 minutes later he made his way downstairs and in to the kitchen to find Hercule sitting at the table with a coffee in his hand reading yesterday's newspaper (you tell me what delivery boy is gonna get out there at that time in the morning).

A strange sight to behold at this time in the morning but there was something different about the man which took Gohan all of five seconds to realise once he took a good hard look. Hercule had shaved but not just the stubble that always adorned his face, he even got rid of the mustache that was part of the trademark Hercule Satan look.

"Morning Gohan" he said as he looked up to the boy standing at the other end of the room.

"Good morning Hercule. You've...you've shaved off your moustache!?" Gohan both asked and stated.

"Yeah I sure did. After my talk with Videl last night I decided that I needed to do something to give back to the world. I thought I'd start by cleaning myself up before trying to help others" explained Hercule

"Sounds good" said Gohan with a small smile on his face in agreement with Hercule. Gohan then went about getting himself something to drink and he sat down at the table with Hercule. Not long after Chichi then entered the room;

"Oh my, you're both up early" said Chichi as she entered the room.

"Morning Mom/Chichi" they said in unison. Chichi then busied herself with making breakfast for everyone. Shortly after, Videl came bouncing down the stairs and in to the kitchen.

"Morning Videl" said Gohan as she sat down at the table.

"Good Morning Gohan" said a very chipper Videl.

"Good Morning Sweet pea" said Hercule.

"Morning Daddy. Morning Chichi" said Videl as she continued with greeting everyone.

"You seem to be in a good mood this morning" Gohan pointed out.

"Yep, after last night's talk with daddy, the world is looking bright today" she replied full of smiles.

"Glad to see you're doing well" said Gohan as he returned her smile.

"Thanks, so what's the plan for today then?" asked Videl.

"Well...about that...there's something that I...we want to talk to you about. In fact, there's something that we'd both like to talk to you about this morning" said Gohan.

"Oh? What about?" asked a puzzled Videl. She was a tiny bit worried that they were going to kick her and her dad out;

"_Nah, there's no way they'd be kicking us out...right"_ she thought.

"I'd rather not discuss it right away. Let's all finish breakfast, even get some coffee on the go and then move to the front room, this could take some time after all" he said.

"Oh, okay" said Videl, still a bit nervous at the prospect of moving out but she was fairly confident it was something else, but if that were the case then what was it they wanted to talk about.

Hercule had perked up at the tone that Gohan was taking with them, whatever it was it was serious. He had looked over at Chichi to try and get an idea about what they were wanting to talk about, however she had her back to them which was no doubt deliberate and Gohan's expression was just unreadable. He supposed he was just going to have to wait.

* * *

After finishing breakfast and brewing a new pot of coffee, the group made their way in to the front room where Gohan sat on one end of the sofa, Hercule on the other and Videl in between them and Chichi took the armchair.

"So...what's so important that you wanted to talk to us?" asked Videl.

This was it, the moment of truth. Chichi and Gohan had discussed this the night before after they had left the Satans downstairs to converse. Chichi had pulled her son aside as he reached the top of the stairs and they had a lengthy discussion about it and decided that now was as good a time as any.

"Well...I don't quite know how to put this but...there are some things that I've, or rather _we've_ not been truthful about. Hercule, do you remember last night, after we found you and rescued you?" asked Gohan.

"Hmm...well sure, I woke up confused and wondered if I was in hell it was so dark. I couldn't feel any pain, like nothing had happened even though my clothes were in ruins and completely soaked. You were there and those other three gu...those other guys…" Hercule trailed off.

"? Is everything ok dad?" asked Videl, concerned that her father had just stopped talking mid-sentence.

"Those other guys, the tall green guy and the short black haired guy...I recognised them...from the C-Ce-Cell G-G-Games…" Hercule was eventually able to spit out.

Videl gasped. The Cell Games? Her daddy recognised them? And they were with Gohan? Oh he definitely knew something, but what?! She spun her head back around to her friend;

"What's he talking about Gohan?" she asked, afraid of the answer but also desperate for more information.

"He's referring to Piccolo and Vegeta and what he's suggesting isn't as far-fetched as you might think Videl" he replied.

She had to think for a moment. Her father recognised them from the Cell Games, that meant that they were there and if they knew Gohan then…

"You're...you're one of them...those tricksters?" Videl asked cautiously but simultaneously gripping on to the couch. Her heart was pounding. She couldn't believe the possibility that her friend, her crush, was possibly one of these tricksters that she had heard about, the...cowards who couldn't fight fair.

"Well firstly, we don't like being called tricksters. After all I'm sure you're father can attest to that" replied Gohan as he now looked towards Mr Satan.

"Me?" replied Hercule as Videl swung back around to look at her father with great confusement.

"Sure. I mean, you were at the Cell Games right? You saw everything that happened there, you can't possibly tell me that that was all a big preconceived fight now can you?" asked Gohan, knowing the obvious implication he was making.

"I...no, I can't say that it was. Everything that happened that day was 100% real" replied Hercule.

"What?!"" exclaimed Videl. "Hold on! I know that you didn't beat Cell daddy but people shooting lasers or...light or...whatever from their hands just doesn't happen. There's no way that was real" exclaimed Videl, denying the suggestion.

"But it's true Videl. I saw it all with my own two eyes" replied Hercule.

"Ok, let's say that I believe you for a moment. If this is all true then who really beat Cell?" she asked.

'_Oh boy, she's going to blow a gasket'_ thought Gohan.

"Well sweet pea, as hard as this is to believe, it was actually that kid who was fighting Cell" replied Hercule.

"What?! No way, uh uh there's no way a kid could have beat Cell from what you're telling me" replied a dismissive Videl.

"Actually Videl, he's telling the truth" Gohan then spoke up. She turned back around to look at Gohan;

"Don't tell me that you believe it Gohan?" she asked.

"No, I don't believe it, I _know_ it" he replied, emphasising his point.

"What are you talking about Gohan? How could you know for a fact?" she asked much more confused now than she had been at the start of the conversation.

He turned around and picked up a photo frame and then turned back around to face her;

"I know because this is a picture that was taken on the morning of the Cell Games. It's a picture of me and my dad" he said, a little bit solemnly before turning the frame around and showing it to both Videl and her father.

Videl gently took the picture from Gohan and inspected it carefully. Sure enough, there was his father, clad in his orange Gi and then a young boy, no doubt it was Gohan. He was wearing a purple Gi but his hair was different, a golden yellow...like those tricksters?

"Go...Gohan...is this...is this real? Were you the delivery boy? The kid who fought Cell?" she asked, trying to find the words to ask the question.

There was a pregnant pause hanging in the air for what seemed like eternity before Gohan finally nodded his head in confirmation;

"Yes...that was me" he simply replied.

"I don't believe it…" was all that she could gasp out. Hercule wasn't fairing much better;

"Now hold on there. You don't mean to tell me that you, the scrawny little kid in that photo was the same kid who beat Cell now do ya?" he asked just as bewildered as his daughter.

"Yeah, that's me. Do you want some kinda proof? I mean, I could arm wrestle you and show you just how strong I am?" asked Gohan, boy this conversation was taking a bit of a weird turn.

"Eh no no, that's fine I believe ya" said Hercule, not wanting to embarrass himself any further than he probably was doing. During this short conversation Videl had stayed quiet, thinking things through;

"I know this is kinda throwing it back in your face but, would you mind proving it, to me?" asked Videl. Gohan looked at Videl for a moment, almost losing himself in those sparkling blue eyes of hers;

"O-Of course Videl but, what do you want me to do to prove it?" he asked. She looked at the photo of him and his father for a moment before she knew exactly what she wanted;

"Become the delivery boy. Turn your hair gold" she requested of him. Gohan sat there for a moment deciding on what to do as three pairs of eyes watched him. Videl's were trained directly on his deep dark eyes, searching for some hint of acceptance. Hercule was looking at Gohan with some unease, he'd seen the power that these guys could put out and was worried if he was going to be that close again. Chichi had simply been content to sit back and watch this whole time as she hadn't seen fit to interject in to the story so far.

"Okay, I can do that" Gohan finally responded after what seemed an eternity to the girl. Her eyes widened, like she was expecting him to say 'no' and deny her like he had done back at school. Back at school, what seemed forever ago for Videl when in actuality it had only been a few weeks or so, maybe a month.

She hated the fact that she didn't trust Gohan enough to take his word for it but Videl was someone who just couldn't believe something until she seen it with her very own eyes. However, if this one proved to be real, she would never doubt Gohan again for as long as she lived.

"But I think we should head outside though. If I do it in here I'm sure mom would hit me over the head with the frying pan again" he said as he looked over at his mother.

"That's right Gohan and don't even think about destroying the house either. It took forever to repair that wall after your father accidentally sent me through it" she sternly said to her eldest.

"Okay mom" he said, showing off the trademark Son grin. He then stood up and began making his way towards the front door before realising nobody was following him;

"Videl, you coming or what?" he asked. Videl was shaken from her daze. She couldn't believe he was actually going to prove it;

"Oh, oh yeah sure. C'mon daddy" she replied before gesturing for her father to follow.

The four of them all made their way through the front door and stood outside the house;

"Okay, best you wait here. I don't want you to get too close and I need to get away from the house a bit" said Gohan.

"...sure" replied Videl, still not quite believing what he was about to do. It was all a bluff...right? Right?

Gohan moved away from the house slightly and then turned back to face them before taking a breath. He then braced himself and his whole body seemed to go rigid before letting out a pained yell;

"HHHHAAAAAAAAAAA"

The ground began shaking as Videl and Hercule both tried to keep their footing. Chichi just stood there like a rock, she was used to this sort of thing, what with her husband Goku and then her sons Gohan and Goten.

Slowly Gohan's hair began to flash a yellowish golden colour before he was enveloped in some kind of aura and his hair finally stopped flashing and stayed as a golden colour.

Videl was flabbergasted, utterly astounded. She couldn't believe it, her friend Gohan was in fact the delivery boy. There was no refuting the undeniable evidence. He could change his hair colour just like those fighters could and his age matched that of the delivery boy's description. Still, there was something missing from this;

"Okay Gohan, I think I believe you now but...could you do one last thing for me?" she asked with a bit of apprehension.

"Sure, what's that?" he asked back.

"Could you perform some feat of strength, it's just...so far all I've seen is...a light show, no offence" she replied.

"Oh, I get it. How about this?" he asked before he sped around to stand behind her, so fast that nobody else had seen this before tapping her on the shoulder. She gave a small yelp before turning around and seeing Gohan behind her. How did he do that she wondered?

"And if that wasn't enough, how about this?" he asked before taking both her hands and flying straight up in the air for a couple hundred feet. When he finally stopped he managed to reposition her so that he was carrying her bridal style. They both looked at each other with a slight hint of embarrassment but Videl had a bigger problem. She appeared to be hundreds of feet in the air with only Gohan to hold on to...not that she didn't mind that last part very much.

"Okay, okay, you've proved your point. Can we go down now, please Gohan?" she begged, not feeling safe at the height they were at, yet had a conflicting feeling of being safe in Gohan's arms.

"Ok but before we do, look over that way and you'll see the sunrise just above those mountains there" he said as he turned them both in mid air. Videl looked in the direction he had pointed them towards and her jaw fell to the floor. The sun was just brushing the top of the mountains in front of them, it's orange glow turning brighter the higher it rose. Down the mountain some way was running water which the sun hadn't quite reached yet and further below was the forest where she could see mostly birds flying around and the sun only just kissing the portion of the forest closest to them as it hadn't fully risen yet.

"Wow" was all she could say at this stunning sight. It was like nothing she had seen before. And then it all went away as Gohan made his descent back down to Earth, a little too quickly for Videl's liking.

After they touched down, Hercule was the first to speak up;

"Videl, are ya okay? You just took off for a moment there" he asked whilst also stating the obvious.

Videl stood there for a moment as her emotions and body tried to get themself in check. The shock to her system and the rapid ascent and subsequent descent had taken their toll. She threw her hand in front of her mouth as her cheeks puffed out and her eyes widened.

She pushed past everyone and ran back in the house looking for either a toilet or sink to hurl in to;

"I guess I maybe went a bit too fast for her" said Gohan as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly whilst his hair went back to it's usual black from it's golden colour.

"You're damn right you went too fast Gohan. Now go in there and make sure she's ok and apologise to the future mother of my grandchildren" yelled Chichi.

"YES MA'AM" yelled Gohan as he ran in to the house. Hercule was confused, future mother of her grandchildren?

"What?" he asked.

"What?" she replied.

"...never mind" he replied as he walked back in to the house. These people are just plain weird.


End file.
